Real Madrid, Barcelona face off in El Clasico showdown

By Muhammed Enes Calli

ANKARA (AA) - Real Madrid will host Barcelona in El Clasico showdown in the most-anticipated game of La Liga on Saturday.

The match will begin at 1900GMT at the Estadio Alfredo di Stefano.

After the first game was played in 1902, the two sides met each other in 278 matches in all competitions.

Barcelona are slightly better in these games with 115 wins while Real Madrid have 101 wins and the remaining 62 matches ended in a draw.

The game becomes important for the title race after leaders Atletico Madrid dropped points in the recent weeks.

Real Madrid and Barcelona now do not want to miss a chance to catch Atletico Madrid which lead La Liga since December with 66 points.

Barcelona have 65 points in second spot and Real Madrid are in third place with 63 points.

Lionel Messi is a key player for the visitors who holds the most El Clasico appearance record at Barcelona with 44 games and he scored 26 goals.