Every single ElClasico is momentous, but this Sunday’s duel between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona will be a particularly special one since it’ll be the 100th time these teams will meet in official competition at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.
The first ever ElClasico at this historic stadium was held one year after the venue’s inauguration, taking place on September 19th 1948. FC Barcelona won 1-2 that day, just like the Catalan club triumphed in the most recent match between these rivals at the Bernabéu, when Xavi’s side thrashed Carlo Ancelotti’s men 0-4 in March 2022.
Overall, Real Madrid have won 50 of the 99 duels that have taken place between these clubs so far in the ChamartÃn part of Spain’s capital. There have also been 22 draws and 27 victories for the Catalan club.
The Bernabéu is the stadium that has hosted this fixture the most, but there are several others too. The King Fahd International Stadium in Saudi Arabia, where they met for a Spanish Super Cup semifinal, was the 13th venue to host an official ElClasico fixture. The very first competitive meeting was in the Copa de la Coronación, held in 1902 at the Hipódromo de la Castellana in Madrid, a venue more commonly used for horse racing at the time. That was the only competitive ElClasico ever held there, while the other 248 have been split between the Santiago Bernabéu (99), Camp Nou (89), Les Corts (30), ChamartÃn (17), Mestalla (3), O'Donnell (3), Metropolitano (2), Velódromo Parque de Deportes (1), Vicente Calderón (1), La Romareda (1), the Estadio Alfredo Di Stéfano (1) and the King Fahd International Stadium (1).
Logically, the four most ‘popular’ stadiums for ElClasico match-ups have been the two clubs’ respective homes for much of their existence. Real Madrid played at the Estadio ChamartÃn from 1924 until 1946 before moving to the Bernabéu, while FC Barcelona called Les Corts home between 1922 and 1957 prior to moving into the Camp Nou.
The other stadiums on the list only held a handful of ElClasico fixtures. O'Donnell was Real Madrid’s home ground before the Estadio ChamartÃn and hosted a few early meetings, while Atlético de Madrid’s Estadio Metropolitano hosted Real Madrid’s ‘home’ ElClasico fixtures in the 1946/47 and 1947/48 seasons as the Bernabéu was being built. There have also been several ElClasico matches staged at neutral venues for Copa del Rey finals: Mestalla in Valencia has hosted three, the Vicente Calderón in Madrid one and La Romareda in Zaragoza another.
Some other venues have been used for friendly and exhibition matches over the years too. Camp de la Indústria held several matches in 1910s, back before LaLiga was formed and when exhibition matches were more common. The southern Spanish city of Cádiz hosted a pre-season tournament at the Estadio Ramón de Carranza every summer and FC Barcelona and Real Madrid squared off there in 1959 and 1968. In 1982, they met in the Venezuela Cup at the Estadio Farid Richa in Barquisimeto. And then, in recent summers, Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium hosted an ElClasico friendly which FC Barcelona won 3-2 in July 2017 before Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium was the scene of the July 2022 friendly which Barça won 1-0.