Classic Clasicos: Five of the best from Real Madrid and Barcelona

Ahead of Barcelona entertaining fierce rivals Real Madrid in the 170th Clasico on Sunday, we look back at five classic encounters between Spain’s two biggest clubs.

Laudrup inspires consecutive five-goal wins… for each team

After helping Barcelona to the league title in 1993-94, Michael Laudrup became public enemy number one in his first Clasico wearing a Real shirt.

Laudrup inspired Real to a 5-0 thrashing of Barca at Santiago Bernabeu, with Ivan Zamorano grabbing a hat-trick. For the Dane, it was the second 5-0 win in as many seasons having helped Barca achieve the same scoreline 12 months earlier.

Real went on to lift the Liga trophy as Laudrup helped prevent his former employers winning a fifth successive championship.

Figo and the pig’s head

Six years after Laudrup’s move to the Spanish capital, Luis Figo made the same switch for a then world-record fee, ushering in the Galacticos era at the Bernabeu.

Whistled mercilessly on his first return to Camp Nou in October 2000, his third visit in November 2002 remains the most memorable.

Figo had been spared his usual corner-taking duties previously due to the Camp Nou crowd’s proximity to the pitch, something that even sparked a media campaign to see the Portuguese return to set-pieces – which he did.

Pelted whenever he approached the corner of the pitch, Real Madrid’s players walked off the pitch in protest against Figo’s treatment at one first-half set-piece with cameras incredibly revealing a pig’s head among the bottles aimed at the Portugal star. 

Ronaldinho emulates Maradona

Ronaldinho struck a sublime double at the Bernabeu as Frank Rijkaard’s Barca recorded a 3-0 victory in November 2005, the Brazilian coming to the fore after Samuel Eto’o’s opener.

The then-world player of the year second goal saw him tear past Sergio Ramos before clipping beyond Iker Casillas, who could only offer a shrug as the Bernabeu rose to salute their fierce rivals’ best player.

It mirrored another South American legend’s treatment, with Diego Maradona having earned the Bernabeu’s applause after a mesmeric goal in the now-defunct Copa de la Liga – rounding goalkeeper Agustin and jinking past Juan Jose just a few inches from the line before tapping in.

Guardiola’s Barca destroy Mourinho’s dream start

If Barcelona fans thought the 2005 victory was special, fast-forward five years and eight days and the Catalan giants produced another iconic performance.

Jose Mourinho’s arrival at Real had threatened Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side, with the Portuguese going unbeaten in his first 19 Real games.

However, Mourinho’s 20th saw him brought crashing back to earth as Lionel Messi and David Villa’s incisive play up font tore through Madrid’s defence time and time again, inspiring a 5-0 drubbing that took Barca top of the league – a position they would not relinquish for the rest of the season.

Record-breaking Messi lights up seven-goal thriller

In recent seasons, the El Clasico has become as much a case of Cristiano Ronaldo v Messi as it is Real Madrid v Barcelona.

Last season’s clash at the Bernabeu saw the Argentina man take the honours as his hat-trick secured a 4-3 win to breathe new life into a title race that Real had looked like running away with.

Messi’s triple also moved him top of the all-time Clasico scoring chart, and few would bet against him extending his lead at the top given his form entering this weekend’s fixtures – his 18 appearances in 2015 have yielded 20 goals.