There’s no bigger fixture in club football than Real Madrid taking on Barcelona, and things were particularly spicy when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo were on either side of the El Clasico divide.

Messi and Ronaldo are the all-time top goalscorers in the history of El Clasico, as well as for Barcelona and Real Madrid respectively.

There can be no question that they’re the two greatest footballers of their generation, and their rivalry defined a whole chapter in Barcelona and Real Madrid’s history.

But which player had the more impressive record on the big stage, when it felt like the whole world stopped to watch them do battle in El Clasico? The match was popular on new betting sites in UK and elsewhere around the world.

We’ve taken a look both at their overall, all-time records in the fixture as well as purely their head-to-head records when they were on either side of the rivalry between the years of 2009 and 2018, when Ronaldo was at Real Madrid.

Messi played in El Clasico 15 times without Ronaldo in the opposing line-up, having represented Barcelona before and after his old rival’s nine-year stint in the Spanish capital.

All 30 of Ronaldo’s El Clasico appearances for Los Blancos featured Messi on the other teamsheet. The Argentinian was always fit and available when Barca’s biggest fixture rolled around.

Barcelona won almost half of the Clasicos contested when Messi and Ronaldo featured directly against one another.

Ronaldo was on the winning team just eight times against Messi’s Barcelona, although one of those was the 2011 Copa del Rey final in which he headed home the iconic match-winner in extra time.

Messi got his revenge a short while later, scoring one of his greatest-ever solo goals against Ronaldo’s Madrid in the Champions League semi-finals, in which Pep Guardiola’s side knocked out Los Blancos to book their place in the Wembley final.

There was also an unforgettable La Liga clash back in October 2012, in which both players scored twice in a 2-2 draw. That was when they were at the peak of their powers and their rivalry defined the fixture.

Here’s how Messi and Ronaldo’s El Clasico stats stack up against one another.

Lionel Messi in El Clasico

Games: 45 ⭐
Goals: 26 ⭐
Assists: 14 ⭐

Penalties scored (taken): 6/6 (100%) ⭐
Free-kicks: 2 ⭐
Hat-tricks: 2  ⭐

Minutes per goal: 151
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 197
Minutes per goal or assist: 98 ⭐

Cristiano Ronaldo in El Clasico

Games: 30
Goals: 18
Assists: 1

Penalties scored (taken): 4/4 (100%)
Free-kicks: 0
Hat-tricks: 0

Minutes per goal: 141 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 181 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 133

Head to head in El Clasico – 2009 to 2018

Lionel Messi

Games: 30
Goals: 20 ⭐
Assists: 11 ⭐

Penalties scored (taken): 6/6 (100%)  ⭐
Free-kicks: 2 ⭐
Hat-tricks: 1  ⭐

Minutes per goal: 133  ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 191
Minutes per goal or assist: 86 ⭐

14 wins, 8 draws, 8 losses

Win Percentage: 46% ⭐
Loss Percentage: 26% ⭐

Cristiano Ronaldo

Games: 30
Goals: 18
Assists: 1

Penalties scored (taken): 4/4 (100%)
Free-kicks: 0
Hat-tricks: 0

Minutes per goal: 141 
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 181 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 133

8 wins, 8 draws, 14 losses

Win Percentage: 26%
Loss Percentage: 46%

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