In the absence of Lionel Messi, it was FC Barcelona's Luis Suarez who wrote the headlines in the latest El Clasico, equalling a milestone reached by former Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, but doing so in less games.
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The Uruguayan striker netted a hat-trick in the Blaugrana's 5-1 demolition of his side's bitter rivals Los Blancos on Sunday. As a consequence, Suarez took his El Clasico tally to nine goals, with all of them coming in his nine LaLiga appearances against Real.
In doing so, the 31-year-old has equalled Ronaldo's goals tally in Clasico in the Spanish top flight, and needed half as many games as the former Los Blancos superstar to score them, according to Bleacher Report.
Ronaldo scored his nine El Clasico in 18 LaLiga games, and netted 18 times in the fixture across all competitions overall.
Messi, who missed the latest derby due to injury, remains the all-time record goalscorer for the fixture, with 26 goals against Real.
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The latest Clasico humiliation saw Los Blancos drop to ninth position in LaLiga, which ultimately led to the sacking of coach Julen Lopetegui earlier this week.
Do you think Barca have proved they can cope better without Messi than Real can without Ronaldo? Have your say in the comments section below.
