The seven best Clasico debuts of all time

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 29 Oct 2023 13:23 GMT
• 6 min read

Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-1 on Saturday in the first El Clasico of the season at Camp Nou.

Jude Bellingham was the hero in his first ever Clasico, scoring two sensational goals to turn around a 1-0 deficit.

We take a look back at seven of the best debuts in El Clasico history.

Alfredo Di Stefano - Barcelona 0-5 Real Madrid, October 1953

Alfredo Di Stefano is one of the best players in history and a true legend of Real Madrid.

However, sometimes the controversial manner of his transfer to Los Blancos is forgotten, as after a deal was made with Colombian side Millonarios, Di Stefano was actually part owned by both Barcelona and Real Madrid.

The Argentine superstar was to play for the Blaugrana first and then move on to Madrid, but after failing to impress in a handful of games for Barcelona, the club decided to sell their share of the player to Madrid.

It would prove to be a disastrous move, as on his Clasico debut a few months later, Di Stefano would fire Real Madrid to a 5-0 victory at Camp Nou, bagging a hat-trick in the process.

Johan Cruyff - Real Madrid 0-5 Barcelona, February 1974

Like Di Stefano, Cruyff was also at the centre of a tug-of-war of sorts between the two Clasico giants.

Indeed, the legendary Dutchman would ultimately turn down a move to the Spanish capital due to the club's affiliation with dictator Francisco Franco.

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A look back at Johan Cruyff's first #ElClasico appearance... pic.twitter.com/AkiFjA2BqP

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Cruyff would inspire Barcelona to their first La Liga title win in 14 years, and in that season he would make a memorable Clasico debut.

In the battlefield of Santiago Bernabeu, Cruyff helped humble Madrid on their own patch, running the game from the get-go - while also surviving more than a few tasty tackles from the opposite.

He would grab a deserved goal as Barca won 5-0.

David Villa - Barcelona 5-0 Real Madrid, November 2010

In one of the most memorable Clasico matches since the turn of the century, Pep Guardiola's Barcelona were at the peak of their powers in November of 2010 when they demolished Real Madrid 5-0 at Camp Nou.

After the failed Zlatan Ibrahimovic experiment, David Villa was brought in from Valencia and his Clasico debut the Spaniard would score two of the five goals.

Villa was the beneficiary of two fabulous passes from Lionel Messi to score his goals, but the finishes were still fantastic.

The first was lashed into the bottom left corner, while the second was intelligently stabbed under the oncoming Iker Casillas.

Neymar - Barcelona 2-1 Real Madrid, October 2013

There is certainly a theme running through our list and that is of players who were linked with both Barcelona and Real Madrid before eventually moving to Spain.

Barca would ultimately beat Madrid to the acquisition of Neymar in May of 2013, and although the legality of that deal would come into question later on, the Brazilian was still fabulous on the field.

It may have taken Neymar a little while to find his feet in La Liga, but on the grandest stage against Madrid he stepped up to help his new club to a win in the fixture on his debut.

Barca defeated Madrid 2-1, with the superstar winger recorded a goal and an assist for the winner, scored by Alexis Sanchez.

Zinedine Zidane (as coach) - Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid, April 2016

Moving away from players on the pitch, there are coaches out there who have had memorable debuts in the Clasico from the dugout.

At the time when Zinedine Zidane took over at Madrid, Rafa Benitez had just been sacked, with fans not happy with the Spaniard's alleged pragmatic playing style as well as the lack of inspiring results.

Zidane took charge of his first Clasico in April of 2016 and inspired Madrid to a 2-1 victory at Camp Nou despite being down to 10 men.

Prior to that game, Barca were on a 36-match unbeaten run so the Ballon d'Or winner certainly made a statement at that time that he was a proper coach as well as an iconic player.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang - Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona, March 2022

Eyebrows were raised when Barcelona signed a 32-year-old Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang on a free transfer in the January 2022 transfer window.

Aubameyang had been frozen out of the squad at Arsenal after falling out with manager Mikel Arteta.

However, the striker immediately enjoyed a sensational start to his career at Camp Nou.

Ahead of his first Clasico on March 20, he had already scored seven goals in 10 games.

And he continued his fantastic start with a brilliant double in El Clasico. He opened the scoring with a header from Ousmane Dembele's cross and then grabbed a second in the second half by flicking the ball over Marc-Andre Ter Stegen.

Aubameyang also assisted Ferran Torres' goal in a thumping 4-0 win.

He thus became the first player since Di Stefano to score twice and get an assist on his Clasico debut.

Aubameyang moved to Chelsea a few months later, giving him a short yet dominant history in the fierce derby.

Jude Bellingham - Barcelona 1-2 Real Madrid, October 2023

Going into this game, Jude Bellingham had already had arguably the best start to a Real Madrid career in the history of the Blancos.

If there was any doubt in that statement before the match, there wasn't after as Bellingham turned this game on its head.

Barcelona dominated the first half and led 1-0 thanks to Ilkay Gundogan.

Bellingham then exploded in the second period with a stunning long-range strike into the top corner. He completed the job two minutes into injury time from close range.

It marked the perfect Clasico debut and took Bellingham's tally for the season following his club record transfer from Borussia Dortmund to an incredible 13 goals from 13 games.