By Can Erozden
ANKARA
The bitter rivals in Spanish top football division La Liga - Barcelona and Real Madrid - are set to meet in the El Clasico derby match on Sunday in Barcelona's home ground, Nou Camp.
All eyes will be on the clash of the two Spanish football giants this weekend.
Home team Barcelona are leading the league with 65 points while Real Madrid are in second place - "Los Blancos" (The Whites) have 64 points.
Barcelona defensive midfielder Sergio Busquets, who has ankle problems, and Belgian centre-back Thomas Vermaelen, who is suffering from thigh injury, may miss El Clasico.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid's Colombian star midfielder James Rodriguez will be unable to play after he sustained metatarsal fracture.
- Victorious Catalans
The derby in Barcelona will kick off at 21:00 CET (2000 GMT).
Real Madrid won the last El Clasico 3-1 at Santiago Bernabeu in the first half of the league.
Portuguese players Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe and French striker Karim Benzema put the ball into the net for Los Blancos, while Brazilian forward Neymar scored for Barcelona in Madrid.
"Barca" has won 48 home matches out of 84 derbies in the league at Nou Camp to date.
In the last league derby at Nou Camp, Catalans were victorious by 2-1 on October 26, 2013.
- Biggest win
A Brazilian regular of the team, Neymar, and Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez, were the scorers for Barcelona whilst Real Madrid's single goal was scored by Spanish forward Jese Rodriguez.
The biggest win between the sides in the last 10 derbies in La Liga belongs to Barcelona, as the Catalan giants thrashed Real Madrid 5-0 at Nou Camp in the 2010-11 football season.
In 169 derbies in La Liga, Real Madrid won 71 matches while Barcelona grabbed 66 wins. The rest (32 matches) ended as draws.
Real Madrid has scored 277 goals and Barca 266 in 169 El Clasico games in the league.
- Top scorer
Apart from the teams, El Clasico is also crucial for the individuals of both sides such as Barcelona's Argentine star Lionel Messi and Real Madrid's Portuguese powerhouse Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi's form in La Liga this season has been fairly impressive since the Argentine star forward scored nine goals in the last five La Liga matches whilst Ronaldo found the net only twice in the last five league appearances.
In addition, Messi is leading this season's top scorer list as he managed to score 32 goals in La Liga whilst Ronaldo is following Argentine star closely.
Portuguese star of Real Madrid tallied 30 goals in the league.
- Last 10 El Clasico matches in the league are as follows:
| Date |
Match |
Result |
| Oct. 25, 2014 |
Real Madrid vs Barcelona |
3-1 |
| March 23, 2014 |
Real Madrid vs Barcelona |
3-4 |
| Oct. 26, 2013 |
Barcelona vs Real Madrid |
2-1 |
| March 2, 2013 |
Real Madrid vs Barcelona |
2-1 |
| Oct. 7, 2012 |
Barcelona vs Real Madrid |
2-2 |
| April 21, 2012 |
Barcelona vs Real Madrid |
1-2 |
| Dec. 10, 2011 |
Real Madrid vs Barcelona |
1-3 |
| April 16, 2011 |
Real Madrid vs Barcelona |
1-1 |
| Nov. 29, 2010 |
Barcelona vs Real Madrid |
5-0 |
| April 10, 2010 |
Real Madrid vs Barcelona |
0-2
|
