Tomorrow marks the latest instalment of the biggest football match across the globe. Real Madrid will face their fierce rivals, Barcelona, in the first El Clasico of the 2014/15 season.
The very first time Real Madrid and Barcelona met was in 1902 and the first league encounter occurred on 17 February 1929. Both sides have met each other in official contests 227 times, with Real Madrid winning 91 times to Barcelona's 88 and 48 matches finishing with both teams level.
The fierce rivalry took on a political nature following the Spanish Civil War of the late 1930s, where Spain's long serving dictator, General Franco, pitted his right-wing Spanish government against Catalan separatists in one of the bloodiest conflicts in history. The oppression continued for over 40 years until Franco's death in 1975, but the nature of the conflict has remained intact ever since.
El Clasico is the most watched match in club football other than the UEFA Champions League final, attracting over 400 million viewers in Real Madrid's Copa Del Rey final victory last season. It attracted a plethora of media attention when the conflict came to a head after Jose Mourinho was named Real Madrid manager and publicly slated Pep Guardiola's Barcelona for three seasons after his appointment in 2010.
Lionel Messi is the top scorer in the history of the rivalry, scoring a total of 21 goals in his 28 appearances. Manolo Sanchis holds the record for appearances with 43 in his 18-year-long career with Real Madrid.
A further subject of interest is the issue of players who have played for both sides, which includes Barcelona's current manager, Luis Enrique. Perhaps the most notable player in this list is Luis Figo, who, controversially left Barcelona for Real Madrid in 2000. Figo was met with jeers and hostility upon his return to the Camp Nou, and opted not to take corners on that night to avoid being hit by objects thrown from the surrounding crowd.
Barcelona currently sit on top of La Liga, undefeated with 22 points, four ahead of Real Madrid, who will be hoping to cut their lead down to just one, in their bid to win a first league title since 2012.
Whatever the result is in this season's El Clasico, you can be sure the game will be a hotly contested affair, and Luis Suarez's Barcelona debut will undoubtedly add fuel to that fire.
The match begins at 18:00 tomorrow evening.
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Who do you think will win El Clasico? Have your say in the comments section below.
