How to win El Clásico? Score first! According to the stats, that’s the key to the match

El Clásico is the biggest football match in the world and of course there is a lot of nervousness among all players, management and fans. However, in recent years, it has been enough to apply a simple formula – score the first goal and then you won’t lose.

The pressure in a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona is enormous and turning such a match around is not easy. So scoring the first goal in El Clásico has been extremely important in recent years. The team that has scored the first goal in the last 15 encounters has never lost.

Real Madrid has scored the first goal on 8 occasions, seven times then brought the match to a winning end, once the match ended in a draw. Barcelona took the lead in 6 matches, won five times after that, and once resulted in a draw. Once, too, a duel between the two irreconcilable rivals ended in a goalless draw.

The last match when someone turned the score of El Clásico was played on April 23, 2017. Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu sent Casemiro into the lead in the 28th minute, with Messi equalizing five minutes later. Rakitic turned the match score around in the 73rd minute, but James equalised in the 85th to make it 2-2. Real were down to ten men from the 77th minute as Ramos was shown a red card. In the 92nd minute, Messi finally turned the game around for Barcelona.

The proof in the last few games

In the spring El Clásico of the 2021/22 season, Barcelona had a meteoric rise. They immediately pounced on their opponents, with Aubameyang opening the scoring in the 29th minute, before the Blaugranas eventually added three more goals.

The previous El Clásico took place in January in the Super Cup, where Vinícius sent Real into the lead. Before half-time, de Jong equalised, Los Blancos sent Benzema back in front and Fati equalised before the end. But Valverde scored the winning goal in extra time.

If we look at the duel between the irreconcilable rivals last autumn, we will once again reach the rule – first goal = victory. This time, it was also the first goal for David Alaba at Real Madrid that opened the scoring. Lucas Vázquez increased the score to 2:0 in the setup, only for Agüero to correct the score in the 97th minute.

In El Clásico in the 2020/21 season, Benzema sent Los Blancos into the lead in the 13th minute and Kroos increased it to 2:0 in the 28th minute. Barcelona could only manage to correct the score with Minguez. Valverde scored in the 5th minute in the autumn game at Camp Nou, and Fati’s goal in the 8th minute was answered by Ramos and Modric in the second half.

The first goal rule still applies

In what was for a long time the last El Clásico before the stands in March 2020, Vinícius and Mariano decided the game for Real with their goals. The duel at Camp Nou that season ended in a goalless draw. In 2019, the El Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu was decided by Rakitic’s single goal, and the autumn duel ended with a 5-1 win for Barcelona, with Coutinho opening the scoring.

That season, the two teams also met in the Copa del Rey, where the first goal rule also applied. In the first match, Real Madrid took the lead in the 6th minute thanks to Lucas Vazquez, while Barcelona only equalized at 1:1. In the rematch, the Catalans won 3:0.

The last El Clásico with Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi on the pitch took place on 6 May 2018. Barcelona were put in front in the 10th minute by Suárez, four minutes later Ronaldo equalised. Messi scored in the 52nd minute and exactly 20 minutes later Bale equalised for the final 2-2.

In December 2017, Real lost 0:3 at home to their rivals. However, in the summer Super Cup, they went ahead twice and won twice. First, at Camp Nou, Piqué sent the White Ballet into the lead with an own goal, and Messi’s equaliser from a penalty was answered by wonderful goals from Ronaldo and Asensio. In the return leg, Real won the game thanks to another stunning goal from Asensio in the fourth minute, and Benzema made it 2-0 in the 39th minute.

The start of the match and the first goal is important in all matches. However, as you can see, the first goal in El Clásico has been almost decisive in recent years.

Source: Real Madrid, La Liga