Messi Barça player with most Clásico appearances

Leo Messi keeps breaking records. The Argentine star moves past Xavi Hernández as the Barça player with the most appearances against Real Madrid with this Sunday’s Clásico taking his total 43.  Overall, the Argentine is only behind Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos who makes his 44th appearance in a Clásico this Sunday.

How are these Clásicos distributed?

If we look at Leo Messi's 43 games against Real Madrid, we see that the vast majority of them have been in the league (27), followed by the Copa del Rey (8), the Spanish Super Cup (6) and the Champions League (2). Apart from Messi and Xavi, the other three players to complete the Barça top 5 with the most games against Madrid are Iniesta (38), Busquets (38) and Piqué (35).