Barcelona's 5 Greatest Modern El Clasico Moments

Sunday brings El Clasico and perhaps the final chance for Barcelona to push the title race in La Liga to the brink; they're three points off the pace of Real Madrid and have played a game more, making the match at Santiago Bernabeu an absolute must-win for Luis Enrique's team.

There's no margin for error here, and the Catalan side know that victory could well spur them on to an incredible turnaround in the race for domestic success—one which would be all the more sweet because of having initiated the turnaround in El Clasico itself.

It wouldn't be the first time such a memorable moment occurred in the fixture, either; here, we look at five of the most dramatic or exciting occasions that Barca fans can look back on through El Clasico history.

5. Messi Does His Thing, 2011

While this year's fight is all about domestic dominance, there are often occasions when Barcelona and Real Madrid are battling it out to be the cream of Europe, too.

That was the setting in 2011, with both sides in the semi-final of the UEFA Champions League and the first leg at the Bernabeu. Barca won the title that season, four points ahead of Real, but there was the chance of more silverware ahead for one in the final of European competition.

A tight, bad-tempered game in Madrid looked to be heading for a goalless result in the first leg, but then Lionel Messi took over.

Two goals in the last 15 minutes gave Barca what turned out to be an unassailable lead heading into the return leg at the Camp Nou, and the No. 10 was at his scintillating best for the second goal in particular; taking possession midway inside the Real half, he left defender after defender for dead and rolled in the killer second.

A 1-1 scoreline sent Barcelona through to the final, where they beat Manchester United 3-1 at Wembley, with Messi again playing a pivotal role.

4. Classic El Clasico, 2014

Sometimes, a victory over a rival can be memorable thanks to giving them an absolute pasting, but there's also something satisfying about a back-and-forth, to-and-fro match between evenly matched sides...which your team just comes out on top of.

Just a few seasons previous, Real and Barca went hammer and tongs at each other at the Santiago Bernabeu, as close to each other as could be—and actually ending the season level on points, too.

Despite an early Andres Iniesta goal putting Barca in front, Karim Benzema twice scored to turn the game around, and Cristiano Ronaldo also netted after the break, leaving the Catalans trailing by a 3-2 scoreline with half an hour left to play.

Once more it was Messi to the rescue; having already notched one, he scored twice from the penalty spot to wrap up a Clasico hat-trick, including a winner in the final minutes to seal an amazing 4-3 comeback victory and edge a seven-goal thriller.

3. Manita in La Liga, 2010

Back to the batterings.

La Manita, the five-goal win in Spanish football terminology, is a prized and treasured scoreline against a rival. Barcelona hadn't won 5-0 against Real in La Liga since 1994, but they did it in 2010 to mark perhaps the absolute highest period of Pep Guardiola's great team.

The 2010/11 season—the campaign that ended with that Clasico semi-final victory in Europe we saw earlier—was Guardiola's Barcelona at their best, with dominant football, fantastic style, utter belief in their methods and each key player on top of their game.

At the Camp Nou in November, Real Madrid were ripped asunder, and while the scoreline read 5-0 by full-time, it could easily have been more—especially considering four came before the hour mark.

Xavi, Pedro, David Villa and Jeffren Suarez all got on the scoresheet, while Messi played a central role in creating chances and an indelible mark on the game was made by the team as a whole: this is how we play; this is how we win.

2. Ronaldinho Gets the Bernabeu to Its Feet, 2005

Scoring and playing well against a rival team is one thing, but being applauded by them? That's another plane entirely.

Ronaldinho bridged that divide, however, if only fleetingly, for a performance of genius, incredible skill and, importantly for Barcelona, impeccable end product.

The game came in November 2005, with Barcelona en route to the title and finishing 12 points clear of Real Madrid, and that gap was in evidence at the Bernabeu when Ronaldinho took centre stage.

Samuel Eto'o scored the first, but it was the Brazilian's magical second-half footwork, lightning acceleration and unerring finishing that got the crowd on their feet. He scored twice to round off a 3-0 win, leaving Sergio Ramos in particular in the dust that day.

Spanish commentators were memorably incredulous at the home support standing to give the Barca man an ovation after the second goal went in.

1. Enter Guardiola, 2009

For two years from 2006 to '08, Real Madrid had won La Liga, finishing ahead of Barca in 2007/08 by a whopping 18 points to establish absolute dominance in El Clasico—particularly as Real hadn't lost in five league meetings between the sides.

Then Guardiola turned up as manager.

A 2-0 win at the Camp Nou earlier in the season had heralded the sea-change, but by the end of the season, it was clear that the former midfielder's arrival in the dugout had changed the outlook of La Liga and Real's short spell of being on top.

Heading into the match, Barca led by four points, but Real were on a magnificent win streak and even took the lead through Gonzalo Higuain.

Thereafter, it was largely one-way traffic, as Thierry Henry (twice), Carles Puyol, Messi (twice) and Gerard Pique all scored to round off a thundering 6-2 victory behind enemy lines.

The title was all but wrapped up that afternoon, giving Barcelona a seven-point lead with four games to go, and they saw out the season on top while Real lost five on the bounce.

Guardiola was the real deal, and Barcelona were back.