El Clasico: The last time both Messi and Ronaldo did not play

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are the best players of this generation, and two of the best players playing in the most watched and enjoyed football match, El Clasico, made it even more exciting and competitive.

Lionel Messi is the undisputed top scorer in this fixture, with 26 goals, while the nearest rival to Messi still playing for Real Madrid or Barcelona is Karim Benzema, with 8 goals. Cristiano Ronaldo and Alfredo Di Stefano scored 18 each for Real Madrid.

With Cristiano Ronaldo leaving Real Madrid for Juventus this summer and Lionel Messi suffering a fractured arm during the match aganist Sevilla on 20th of October, El Clasico will miss two of the most sensational players of the modern era.

Football fans can’t imagine El Clasico without either Ronaldo or Messi but this season's first clash between the two Spanish giants of La Liga will not feature the two legends of the game for the first time since the 23rd of December, 2007.

The teams back then were stacked with talents such as Ronaldinho, Deco, Raul and Casillas, but only Ramos still remains from the historic clash.

This was the starting XI for Real Madrid and Barcelona on the day when Los Blancos managed a 1-0 win.

Real Madrid (Away Team)

Goalkeeper : Iker Casillas

Defenders : Sergio Ramos (RB), Pepe (CB), Fabio Cannavaro (CB), Gabriel Heinze (LB)

Midfielders : Wesley Sneijder (CM), Lassana Diarra (CDM), Julio Baptista (CM)

Forwards : Raul (RW), Ruud Van Nistelrooy (ST) , Robinho (LW)

Real Madrid in 2007

FC Barcelona (Home Team)

Goalkeeper : Victor Valdez

Defenders : Carles Puyol (RB), Rafael Marquez (CB), Gabriel Milito (CB), Eric Abidal (LB)

Midfielders : Deco (CM), Yaya Toure (CDM) , Xavi (CM)

Forwards : Ronaldinho (RW), Samuel Eto’o (ST), Andres Iniesta (LW)

Barcelona in 2007

The game ended 1-0 in favor of Real Madrid with Julio Baptista scoring the only goal in the thirty fifth minute.