The only prize on the Barcelona and Real Madrid players’ minds when El Clásico kicks off this Wednesday will be the three prized LaLiga Santander points on offer.
But the players involved have won almost all there is to win at an individual level and rank among the most decorated in football history.
The Ballon d’Or and The Best
There’s no doubt about the ultimate individual honours for footballers. The Ballon d’Or given out by France Football and The Best award, run by FIFA since 2017, are the most prestigious prizes given out to the best player of each year.
Barcelona captain Lionel Messi is the current holder of both The Best award and the Ballon d’Or; his 2019 win just a couple of weeks ago was a record-breaking sixth Ballon d’Or, taking him one clear of El Clasico legend Cristiano Ronaldo who has five. Luka Modric, who’ll line up opposite Messi, was the previous Ballon d’Or winner in 2018.
The Golden Shoe and the ‘Pichichi’
As well as consistently having the best overall
players of the last decade, LaLiga Santander has also consistently boasted the
top scorers. The ‘Pichichi’ award given out to the top Spanish scorer of each
season has almost become synonymous with the Golden Shoe for the top scorer in
Europe.
In the past decade, Messi has won the Golden Shoe six times and Luis Suárez has done so twice. Their efficiency in front of goal will go a long way towards deciding this game, as with almost any game that these two play.
World Cup awards
As well as having several world champions involved in this fixture, including at least one from each of the past three World Cups, El Clásico also features several of the individual award winners from the global international tournament.
The three best players at the 2018 World Cup – Luka Modric (Golden Ball), Eden Hazard (Silver Ball) and Antoine Griezmann (Bronze Ball) – are all set to play important roles come Wednesday. So too is , the winner of the 2018 World Cup Golden Glove.
Going back one World Cup to 2014, the awards were also dominated by current Clasico stars. Messi won the Golden Ball while the Golden Boot for the top scorer went to Real Madrid’s James Rodríguez.
Barcelona and Real Madrid players have also dominated the prizegiving ceremonies at the annual Club World Cups in recent years. Gareth Bale and Modric won the Club World Cup Golden Ball in 2018 and 2017 respectively, while Luis Suárez, Sergio Ramos and Messi have all won the award at least once in the past too.
FIFPro XI
Each year’s all-star XI voted for by players has regularly been dominated by Clasico players. Several Barcelona and Real Madrid players have been voted into this team multiple times, namely Messi (13), Ramos (10), Marcelo (6), Modric (5), Piqué (4), Toni Kroos (3) and Hazard (2), while Frenkie de Jong and Luis Suárez have each made the cut once.
Players of the Year from across the continent
In addition to having the record winner of LaLiga’s Player of the Year award in Messi, Barcelona and Real Madrid have signed some of the best players from other leagues across the continent.
Bale, Suarez and Hazard won the Premier League Player of the Season award in three consecutive seasons (2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15 respectively), and now all ply their trade in LaLiga. Hazard was also the Ligue 1 Player of the Year in 2010/11 and 2011/12, while his teammate Benzema won that honour in 2007/08.
The LaLiga Santander Players of the Month
It won’t come as any surprise that several of the players who’ll be involved in El Clásico have won plenty of LaLiga Santander Player of the Month awards, but it might raise some eyebrows to learn just how dominant certain players have been.
Griezmann and Messi have both won a record six monthly gongs, while Suárez (3), Karim Benzema (1) and Ivan Rakitic (1) have also been rewarded for at least one incredible month since the prize was launched in 2013.
And that’s not to name all the other awards sitting in the trophy cabinets of these world-class players. In short, El Clasico is a fixture for the very best in world football.
