El Clasico is one of the most fiercely contested fixtures in all of sports. Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have always been among Europe’s best clubs, and their rivalry extends beyond football. Scoring a hat-trick on such a special occasion automatically warrants a place in the club’s folklore. In total, 24 hat-tricks have been scored in El Clasico and 13 of those have come from Real Madrid players. In this article, we will look at five players with the most hat-tricks in El Clasico for Real Madrid.
#5 Sabino Barinaga – 1
Barinaga scored four goals in a notorious game that divides fans to this day. In the 1943 Copa del Generalisimo semi-final, Barcelona had won the first leg 3-0, but Real Madrid were expected to stage a comeback in the second leg. But nobody thought 11-1 would be the end result, and the circumstances that surrounded the result are intriguing.
Pruden scored a hat-trick, Barinaga scored four goals, but no Real Madrid fan boasts about this game to this day. It is because of reports that dictator Franciso Franco threatened Barcelona players before the game, resulting in a lop-sided contest.
#4 Fernando Sanudo – 1
In 1935, Sanudo became one of the two players to have scored four goals for Real Madrid in an El Clasico game. On February 3, 1935, Real Madrid mercilessly thrashed Barcelona 8-2 in front of home fans. Jaime Lazcano and Sanudo scored a brace each in the first half and Real Madrid had a four-goal lead at halftime.
Sanudo added two more to his tally after the break to rub salt into Barcelona’s wounds. Interestingly, Sanudo made just 38 league appearances for Real Madrid, despite his brilliance against Barcelona.
#3 Santiago Bernabeu – 2
On April 2, 1916, Bernabeu became the first player to score a hat-trick in El Clasico. Barcelona and Real Madrid met officially for the very first time in the 1916 Copa del Rey semi-final, and Barcelona won the first leg 2-1. Bernabeu scored the only goal for Real Madrid, but he got his revenge by scoring the first of his two hat-tricks in El Clasico and sealing a victory.
However, in 1916, goal difference was not counted to decide the winner of a double legged fixture. Since Barcelona and Real Madrid each won one game, replays were held and Bernabeu scored another hat-trick. Madrid drew the away fixture and won at home to progress to the final, where they lost to Athletic Bilbao.
#2 Jaime Lazcano – 2
Lazcano is a legendary figure at Real Madrid, as he scored their first La Liga goal and has two hat-tricks in El Clasico. His first hat-trick came in 1930 as Real Madrid thrashed Barcelona 5-1 in front of home fans. Five years later, he scored his second hat-trick, in the same game where Sanudo netted four goals for Real Madrid. Lazcano is also one of the few players to have represented both Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid.
#1 Ferenc Puskas – 2
Puskas remains the only Real Madrid player to this day to have scored a hat-trick at the Camp Nou. He did so in January 1963 as Real Madrid won by a four-goal margin. Alfredo di Stefano and Gento also scored a goal each in that game.
In December 1963, Puskas netted his second hat-trick, this time in front of the Bernabeu faithful. Di Stefano scored again as Real Madrid won 4-0. Puskas is remembered as one of Real Madrid’s greatest players, having scored over 200 goals for the Los Blancos.
