Shocking stat exposes Messi's Clasico struggles in the post-Ronaldo era

People say the famous Clasico has gone downhill since Ronaldo left LaLiga, and this shocking Messi stat suggests that might be the case.

Lionel Messi was powerless on Saturday to prevent Barcelona from falling to a humble 3-1 Clasico defeat at the hands of Real Madrid.

The Argentine played a key role in the build-up to Ansu Fati’s equalizer by playing a through ball to Jordi Alba, who in turn assisted the 17-year-old to cancel out Fede Valverde’s opening goal at Camp Nou.

Otherwise, Messi only really had two clear chances to score that were both saved by Thibaut Courtois. He faded towards the end as Sergio Ramos and Luka Modric scored two second-half goals to seal victory for the Whites.

The result left Barcelona down in 12th-place in the LaLiga standings and Ronald Koeman fuming with the match officials.

Lionel Messi hasn't scored or assisted in his six El Clasico appearances since Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid 👀 pic.twitter.com/miOBRxDqVz

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 24, 2020

But that was the least of Messi’s worries as ESPN unearthed a worrying stat that showed he hadn’t scored or assisted a goal since his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo left Real Madrid in 2018.

The Portuguese ace, of course, scored 18 goals against Barcelona in his nine seasons in Spain. It left him tied with fellow Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano as the second-highest scorer in El Clasico history behind Messi’s 26 goals.

To be fair, though, Leo has played in LaLiga for 17 seasons.

Moreover, Ronaldo remains the highest goalscorer in Clasico history at Camp Nou on 12 goals with Messi on 11.

Cristiano Ronaldo is still the ALL-TIME TOP SCORER of El Clasico at CAMP NOU with 8⃣ SEASONS LESS.

1⃣2⃣⚽️ 🇵🇹 Cristiano (9 Seasons)
1⃣1⃣⚽️ 🇦🇷 Messi (17 Seasons) pic.twitter.com/rflH4W9hzc

— The CR7 Timeline. (@TimelineCR7) October 24, 2020