Long tradition of debutant goalscorers in the clásico

Alexis and Cesc will play in their first ever home league match against Real Madrid this Saturday, and will be hoping to continue a curious tradition.

Quini, Maradona, Lineker, Koeman, Romario, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Eto'o, Messi and David Villa all scored in their first ever matches against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou.

Alexis and Cesc Fàbregas will both be playing their first ever league match against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou this Saturday, although the former has already experienced a clásico at the Camp Nou in the form of the Spanish Supercup, a match at which he made his official debut for the club. Both players will be looking to join a long list of players who scored league goals against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou at their very first attempt.

Several players have got their Camp Nou clásico careers off to a goalscoring start. Since 1978/79, when Hans Krankl beat García Remon in a 2-0 win, a number of players have excelled in their first experience of welcoming the eternal rival to the Catalan capital. Maradona, Lineker, Romario, Ronaldinho and Messi all repeated Krankl’s feat, as did Zlatan Ibrahimovic two seasons ago (1-0) and David Villa with a brace in last season’s 5-0 win. This Saturday, we could see another new name on the list.

Leo Messi, in 2006-07, was the last player to score three goals in a league match against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou. The Argentinian, now the club’s highest all-time goalscorer, grabbed a late goal to salvage a point from a 3-3 draw. Before him, both Gary Lineker (86/87) and Romario (93/94) had managed to find the Madrid net three times in the same fixture. The Brazilian’s hat trick formed part of the penultimate 5-0 win against Madrid at the Camp Nou, and will always be remembered for his amazing 180º spin to beat Alkorta. (via FCBarcelona.com)

Scorers debutants in a classic

1978/79 Krankl
1980/81 Schuster
1980/81 Quini
1982/83 Maradona
1986/87 Gary Lineker (3)
1989/90 Koeman
1993/94 Romario (3)
1995/96 Kodro
1996/97 Ronaldo
1997/98 Anderson
2004/05 Samuel Eto'o
2004/05 Ronaldinho
2006/07 Leo Messi (3)
2009/10 Ibrahimovic
2010/11 David Villa