Real Madrid and Barcelona will do battle once again on Saturday as the El Clasico trilogy comes to a head at the Bernabeu.
The bitter rivals have already faced off twice in the past month, the most recent of which came just three days before this contest as Barca ran out 3-0 winners - again at the Bernabeu - to seal their place in a sixth straight Copa del Rey final.
Lionel Messi drew a blank in that match, but he has been the scourge of Madrid in the past and will be looking to fire Barcelona a significant step closer to yet another La Liga title triumph this weekend.
Here, Sports Mole looks at the maestro's previous record in El Clasico.
Messi's tally of 26 goals is unparalleled in the history of this famous fixture, with the Barcelona talisman eight goals clear of previous record-holder Alfredo Di Stefano.
Wednesday's match continued his surprisingly-poor run of having failed to score in any of his eight Copa del Rey fixtures against Madrid, but in the league it has been a different story with 18 goals and nine assists in just 24 meetings.
The Argentine missed the reverse fixture - which Barca still won 5-1 - earlier this season, but netted home and away against Los Blancos last term and has four goals in his last three league editions of the Clasico.
Madrid have by no means been safe on home turf either, with Messi boasting a remarkable record of 11 goals in his last 10 league visits to the Bernabeu.
That tally includes a hat-trick in the 2013-14 campaign, and having also netted a treble in his most recent league outing for Barca, Madrid may be fearful of a repeat this weekend.
Barney Corkhill
