#2 May 2009: Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona
Pep Guardiola's first season in charge of Barcelona yielded a historic treble, changing the course of El Clasico history and starting a period of Catalan dominance. Real had taken the title race into May by winning 17 and drawing one of their 18 league matches since the previous Clasico. Just 4 points off the pace, victory over their arch-rivals at home would help Los Merengues stretch the title-race to the last day and pull off a memorable come-back in the second half of the season.
Instead, the Catalan club annihilated Madrid with a 2-6 win in the Spanish capital. The victory would go down in the annals of Spanish football history as one of the most convincing and one-sided wins ever in El Clasico.
Xavi, Carles Puyol, Lionel Messi and Thierry Henry, in particular, were in irresistible form. Despite conceding an early goal from Gonzalo Higuain, the visitors came storming back courtesy of Henry and Messi braces and ruthlessly snuffed out the hopes of the Santiago Bernabeu faithful.
The most striking image of the match was one of Puyol kissing his captain band, which was the Catalan senyera [Catalan flag], after scoring Barca’s second goal. The gesture was, perhaps, a sign of things to come.
