The five untouchables

Roger Bogunyà

Only five members of the FC Barcelona team have appeared in all four of the last wins against Real Madrid. Valdés, Alves, Puyol, Xavi and Messi are veterans of the recent encounters.

Did you know Pedro has only ever played one clásico? And that Keita has only played the full 90 minutes once? Or that Iniesta only started in the last four? For one reason or another, there are only five players that appeared in the last four games with the old enemy, and all of those ended in FCB wins. They are the following:

Valdés: A Liga regular. Valdés has not missed one of the last 14 clásicos, in which he has only conceded 20 goals. In the last four, he has only conceded the two in the 6-2 win two seasons ago.

Alves: He has played all four Barça v Madrid games since joining the club, and last year he even played as right winger at the Bernabéu. It was his cross to Ibrahimovic that won that the last game at the Camp Nou (1-0).

Puyol: Eleven years after experiencing the first game in the flesh, this will be his 22nd clásico. The last four have been especially glorious, and most of all the 6-2 win in Madrid, when he scored a cracking goal from a header.

Xavi: Xavi provided exquisite assists to Messi and Pedro in the last clásico at the Bernabéu. Of the five untouchables, he is the only one that has been substituted in one of these four matches. That was in injury time of the 2-0 win in 2008.

Messi: Nobody scores like Messi and against Madrid, the Argentinian has scored four goals in the last four matches. Last year’s 1-0 win was the only one he didn’t score in.