Lionel Messi - who else? - and other scorers from the last 10 clasicos - in pictures

Barcelona lead the head-to-head results in competitive matches with 96 wins to Real Madrid's 95

Barcelona's Gavi celebrates their 1-0 Copa del Rey semi-final first leg win against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on March 2, 2023. Reuters

Barca's Raphinha celebrates with the Spanish Super Cup after their 3-1 victory against Real at King Fahd International Stadium on January 15, 2023 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Getty

Karim Benzema celebrates with Federico Valverde, Dani Carvajal and Vinicius Junior after scoring in the 3-1 La Liga win against Barca at the Bernabeu on October 16, 2022. Getty

Barcelona's players celebrate their 4-0 La Liga win over Real at the Santiago Bernabeu on March 20, 2022. AFP

Real Madrid celebrate after their 3-2 Spanish Super Cup semi-final win against Barcelona on January 12, 2022, at the King Fahad International stadium in Riyadh. AFP

Real Madrid midfielder Toni Kroos celebrates victory a 2-1 victory at the end of the clasico at Camp Nou on October 24, 2021. AFP

Real's Brazilian midfielder Casemiro receives a red card during the clasico on April 10, 2021, but Real still won the game 2-1. AFP

Lionel Messi and Barca were beaten 3-1 by Real at Camp Nou on October 24, 2020. EPA

Real Madrid players celebrate their win at the end of the clasico on March 1, 2020 - a game they won 2-0. AFP

Lionel Messi of Barcelona holds off Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid at Camp Nou on December 18, 2019. The La Liga encounter ended in a 0-0 stalemate. Getty

An Ivan Rakitic goal gave Barcelona a 1-0 La Liga win over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu on March 2, 2019. Getty

Luis Suarez scores Barca's third goal in a 3-0 second leg win at the Bernabeu on February 27, 2019 as Barcelona clinch a place in the final of the Copa del Rey. Getty

Brazilian midfielder Malcom celebrates after scoring in a 1-1 first leg semi-final draw of the Copa del Rey at Camp Nou on February 6, 2019. Getty

Arturo Vidal of Barcelona scores his side's fifth goal past Thibaut Courtois during a 5-1 La Liga win at Camp Nou on October 28, 2018. Getty

Barcelona's Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez scores against Real Madrid in a 2-2 La Liga draw at Camp Nou on May 6, 2018. AFP

Lionel Messi scored the second of Barcelona's three goals in a 3-0 La Liga win at the Bernabeu on December 23, 2017. Getty Images

Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema scores the second goal during their 2-0 Spanish Super Cup final second leg win at the Bernabeu on August 16, 2017. Getty Images

Lionel Messi scores a penalty but can't prevent Barcelona losing the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Real Madrid at Camp Nou 3-1 on August 13, 2017. Getty

Two months after Spain's biggest football match was postponed due to political unrest, Barcelona host Real Madrid on Wednesday in a La Liga fixture that could have a huge impact on the title race and will take place amid fresh protests.

Lionel Messi's Barcelona head the standings with 35 points from 16 matches, with Real Madrid only trailing on goal difference.

Barca lead the head-to-head results in competitive matches with 96 wins to Real Madrid's 95.

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos will become the player with the most clasico appearances should he line up at Camp Nou.

The Spain defender is currently locked on 42 appearances in Europe's most anticipated match alongside Manuel Sanchis, Francisco Gento and Xavi.

Spain will deploy a large-scale security operation involving 3,000 personnel at Camp Nou, when the likes of Messi and Ramos look set to share the limelight with Catalan separatist protests.

Tension in Spain's north-east region boiled over in October when demonstrations and riots caused the original La Liga fixture between Barcelona and Real Madrid to be postponed.

To see a selection of images from the last 10 clasicos, see the photo gallery above.

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