There is no bigger El Clásico icon than Lionel Messi.
In his 17-years at Barcelona, Messi played in as many as 45 El Clásico matches and produced some of the most memorable moments in the history of the storied fixture.
Messi scored 26 goals and assisted 14 times in El Clásico and is undoubtedly one of, if not the first name you think of when looking at the biggest game in football.
We look back at Messi’s best El Clásico moments.
Like London Buses
Messi had played in two Clásicos previously and made a mark with an assist in a 3-0 win at the Bernabéu on his debut in November 2005.
A 2-0 loss in his second outing in this fixture was a harsh reminder of the swings between the two Spanish giants.
Messi seemed to take that particular defeat personally though as, aged 19, he scored his first goal in the return fixture in March 2007 after 11 minutes.
Having failed to score in his first two Clásicos, he then made up for lost time and quickly added a second and then a third to score his first hat-trick in the fixture in a thrilling 3-3 draw.
A brace in a demolition
Barcelona had lost 1-0 and 4-1 in the 2007-08 season and Messi had now played in four Clásicos and won just once.
Barcelona did beat Madrid 2-0 at Camp Nou in December 2008 with Messi on the scoresheet but it was the return fixture that season that the Argentine really shone through.
Gonzalo Higuaín had initially put Madrid 1-0 up at the Bernabéu, before Messi supplied Thierry Henry with an assist for his first goal.
Messi then scored himself 10 minutes before half-time and then added Barcelona’s fifth goal after 75 minutes as the Catalan giants won 6-2 and effectively sealed the title then and there.
Making his mark on European stage
Messi had already impressed on multiple occasions in LaLiga clashes between these two great sides but in April 2011, he took his chance on the European stage to get one over on his rivals.
Real hosted Barcelona in the first leg of the 2010-11 Champions League semifinal and Messi scored not one but two goals as the Catalans once again left the Bernabéu with a win, on their way to winning Messi’s third Champions League.
Messi 2-2 Ronaldo
October 2012 proved to be a match all about two players rather than two teams as Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo battled to score the winner.
Ronaldo struck first, before Messi scored a goal either side of half-time, with a stunning free-kick after an hour seemingly seeing Barcelona again take the three points.
Ronaldo did respond six minutes later, so the pair had to settle their scores another night.
A hand in all four goals
There are not many players who can say they scored multiple Clásico hat-tricks but Lionel Messi is one of them.
Seven years after his first, Messi had a hand in all four goals as Barcelona beat Real 4-3 at the Bernabéu in March 2014.
Messi assisted Andrés Iniesta after seven minutes, before scoring a hat-trick, with two second-half penalties taking Barcelona from 3-2 down to a 4-3 win.
The shirt we will never forget
You know you have had an incredible career when neither of your hat-tricks in El Clásico are your most iconic moment in the fixture.
In April 2017, Madrid and Barcelona were in a ding-dong battle for the LaLiga title when they met in the Spanish capital.
After 90 minutes, the scores were tied at 2-2, with Messi scoring Barcelona’s first of the evening.
Up steps the Argentine to score a winner two minutes into added time, racing onto Jordi Alba’s cross to whip it into the bottom left corner and race away in celebration.
It is one of the most famous celebrations in the history of football, with Messi taking his shirt off and showing his name to the stunned Madrid crowd, though they had the last laugh as Real went on to lift the title that year.
