El Clasico: 5 times Real Madrid destroyed Barcelona

Carlos started the onslaught with his freekick in 1999 against Barcelona
Carlos started the onslaught with his freekick in 1999 against Barcelona

More Clasico things here. The countdown to Clasico can’t just seem to end as the two teams are to play on the 24th and football enthusiasts are eagerly waiting for the day to come. El Clasico is like a festival for football fans.

These people know not of Christmas or New Year’s Eve, our days of joy start and end on the day some of the greatest footballing event occurs—and what could be a bigger event than El Clasico this month? Indeed, football fans are more excited about El Clasico than Christmas—that takes place a day later—itself.

When it comes to winning by big margins, El Clasicos of late have had Barca getting the better of their eternal rivals. However, Madrid have also desecrated Barca quite a few times and here are 5 such occasions…


#5 Real Madrid 3-0 Barca

youtube-cover

This was during Real Madrid’s Champions-League-winning campaign in 1999-2000. Madrid hosted Barcelona in February in what was the most tumultuous season in La Liga of all time, perhaps. In the 5th minute of the game, Roberto Carlos set himself up to take a free-kick from around 30-yards out.

And he scored. It was a tracer bullet of a free-kick that would see the goalkeeper being unable to do anything about it as it brushed past his gloves into the goal.

Next up, when the clock read 18 minutes, Nicolas Anelka, signed in the summer that season, had an open goal to aim at and he didn’t disappoint, making it 2-0 in the favour of the home side. And the final nail in the coffin was hit in the second half as Fernando Morientes received the ball from Michel Salgado with his back to goal, knocked it a bit ahead to create space and shot it with his left to complete the treble.

And Barcelona’s embarrassment.

#4 Real Madrid 4-1 Barcelona

youtube-cover

When Ronaldinho was at his peak, it was difficult to stop Barcelona—almost impossible, in fact—but this was a time when the Catalans were going through a phase of transition and didn’t really have a coordinated team.

And the Blancos took full advantage of that. By the time this fixture was played, they had already won the league and the Catalans had to give them a pasilo—a guard of honour—to the Galacticos, something that they clearly didn’t enjoy.

But that’s not where the embarrassment ended as goals from Raul, Robben, Higuain and Ruud van Nistelrooy took the Blancos 4-0 up as they continued razing the Catalans. They could have scored another 4 goals if it weren’t for poor finishing.

In the end, Henry pulled one back to restore some pride for the Blaugrana.

#3 Real Madrid 5-0 Barcelona

youtube-cover

The memory of Gerard Pique holding up his hand with all his 5 fingers extended out to show that his club had scored 5 times against Madrid at the Camp Nou is still afresh among many football fans. It was Jose Mourinho’s first ever El Clasico and he was given a real pasting.

However, the Catalans weren’t the only club who did that as the Blancos have also humiliated their eternal rival in a similar fashion.

Back in the 1995-1996 season, the Blancos thrashed the Catalans 5-0 at the Bernabeu with the help of a hattrick from Ivan Zamorano, Jose Amavisca and—hold your horses here!—Luis Enrique. The Blaugrana weren’t exactly sure as to how they could stop the Real Madrid juggernaut as the latter rammed them with the might of a titan.

#2 4-0 Copa final

youtube-cover

To reminisce this, you would have to go back to 1974 when Real Madrid took on Barcelona in the final of the Copa del Rey. The last time these two teams played in the final of the King’s Cup, Madrid beat the Blaugrana through a late goal from Gareth Bale—they only just edged out the Camp Nou outfit by a goal.

However, this wasn’t the case in the 1974 final of the Cup, known as the Copa del Generalisimo back then, as Madrid absolutely thumped their eternal rivals.

Santillana opened the scoring in the 5th minute and that was the only goal in the first half. After that, just a minute into the second half, Benito Rubinan scored again for Madrid, which was then followed by Francisco Aguilar’s goal in the 50th minute.

Pirri then rounded the game off by adding the 4th for Madrid to give them an emphatic win against their rival—and that, too, in a final.

#1 The controversial final

Real Madrid humiliated Barcelona 11-1
Real Madrid humiliated Barcelona 11-1

All of us know about this. Anyone who have watched a bit of football is bound to be aware of this game, which is perhaps the most controversial El Clasico of all time. This happened in the second-leg of the semi-final of the Copa del Rey as Real Madrid desecrated Barcelona 11-1 to achieve the biggest win in an El Clasico fixture.

The score was 3-0 at half-time and 11-1 by the end. To some, it was the influence of General Franco as he apparently threatened the Barcelona players to lose or else lose their family. However, this claim can be debated as Madrid lost the final to their sister, Atletico Madrid, which actually brings up the question: how could Madrid lose the tournament if they were backed by Franco?

Also read: Real Madrid 11-1 Barcelona: The story behind the most controversial El Clasico of all time

Nevertheless, goals from Puden, Sabino Barinaga, Antonio Alsúa Alonso, Curta and Botella ensured that the Galaticos won the game by such a huge margin and register their biggest win against their greatest nemesis.

Quick Links

Edited by Amit Mishra