Real Madrid will head to Barcelona on Sunday evening knowing that they almost certainly need to win in order to stand a chance of retaining the La Liga title.

Carlo Ancelotti's side are currently second in the table, nine points behind division leaders Barcelona, with the Catalan giants looking to move 12 clear of their bitter rivals this weekend.

Barcelona have not been in action since beating Athletic Bilbao 1-0 in La Liga last weekend, as Xavi's side were knocked out of the Europa League by Manchester United toward the end of last month.

Real Madrid, though, were in European action on Wednesday, beating Liverpool 1-0 in the second leg of their last-16 Champions League clash to progress to the quarter-finals with a 6-2 aggregate score.

As two of the biggest clubs in world football prepare to lock horns once again for a mouthwatering contest in Spain's top flight, Sports Mole takes a look at their head-to-head record.

© Reuters

In total, these two teams have locked horns on 252 occasions throughout history, with Real Madrid leading the head-to-head record with 101 wins to Barcelona's 99, while the remaining 52 fixtures have been drawn.

In La Liga, the pair have met 185 times, with Real Madrid also ahead, boasting 77 wins to Barcelona's 73, with the remaining 35 games in Spain's top flight being drawn.

Unsurprisingly, this fixture has often favoured the team at home, with Real Madrid winning 55 of their league matches against Barcelona at Bernabeu, while the Catalan outfit have 50 league victories at Camp Nou.

Interestingly, Real Madrid have dominated the recent La Liga meetings, triumphing in five of their last six matches in Spain's top flight, including a 3-1 success at Bernabeu earlier this season.

Barcelona won 4-0 at Bernabeu last season, but the Catalan outfit have not actually managed to beat Real Madrid at Camp Nou in the league since October 2018.

© Reuters

Last season, Real Madrid won 2-1 at Camp Nou in La Liga, while they were also victorious at the home of the Catalan team in the league in October 2020.

Barcelona have won the last two meetings between the two teams, though, recording a 3-1 victory over their rivals in the final of the Spanish Super Cup in the middle of January.

Xavi's side also beat Los Blancos 1-0 at Bernabeu in the first leg of their Copa del Rey semi-final at the start of the month, with the second leg set to take place at Camp Nou at the start of April.

The majority of Barcelona's best work against Real Madrid in recent years has come in the Spanish capital, which should hand Los Blancos confidence heading into Sunday's encounter.

However, all of the pressure is on the reigning champions, as a draw or a defeat would leave the division leaders in a commanding position heading into the final stages of the campaign.

Read more on Barcelona vs Real Madrid

• Click here to read our full preview for Barcelona vs Real Madrid
• How Barcelona could line up against Real Madrid
• How Real Madrid could line up against Barcelona