El Clasico, the name given to any fixture played between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, has always been one of the most-anticipated rivalry matches in Spanish football. This season, though, El Clasico 2015 might be the biggest rivalry game and the most anticipated football contest in the entire sport. Not only are Barca and Real Madrid fierce La Liga rivals with a score to settle-Barca only beat the Vikings to the title by two points last season-but they are also the last two Champions League winners. Real Madrid won a landmark 10th Champions League title in 2014 while Barcelona won the UCL last season as part of their second-ever treble victory.

Needless to say, all eyes will be on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium on Sunday, November 21st, when the 2015 2016 season sees its first incarnation of the El Clasico rivalry match. Which team will win? Which club will take the bragging rights? Who will score the most goals? All of these questions are on the table as the match day nears.

Who Will Take the Top of the Table?

This particular incarnation of El Clasico will be especially high-pressure, given the fact that the winner will earn the top spot on the La Liga table-for the week, at least. Right now, Barca occupy the top spot, with 27 points. They've won nine of their 11 games and lost the other two.

Real Madrid, meanwhile, trail by three points, but have lost fewer matches. Their record, of seven wins, two draws, and one loss, shows that Rafa Benitez and his conservative, tactical style of coaching, makes the Vikings a very difficult soccer squad to beat. The fact that Real have only conceded seven goals all season-compared with Barca's "goals against" tally of 12-further suggests that the Vikings will make El Clasico a very defensive match this time around.

In any case, Real Madrid need a win here to force a dominant La Liga position heading into the last month of the year. Since the Vikings have a better goal difference than Barca (+19 versus +13), they'd soar into the lead with a win. A draw or loss for Real would give their crosstown rivals, Atletico Madrid, a chance to move into second place. A draw for Barcelona, meanwhile, would still keep the defending champions on top.

Who Will Score the Most Goals?

Since Barcelona and Real Madrid are both very high-powered offensive football squads, one of the big
questions heading into any El Clasico match is about which player will get the edge in terms of goal tally.

During the last La Liga season, each team won the El Clasico they played at home and lost the away game. In an October 25th, 2014 El Clasico, Neymar scored first, but Ronaldo, Pepe, and Benzema all fired back to give Real Madrid a 3-1 win at home. Still, no player tallied more than one goal.

In March 2015, Barcelona won their home El Clasico thanks to goals from Jeremy Mathieu and Lionel Messi. Ronaldo scored the lone goal from Real Madrid.

As you can see, one player scoring more than one goal in an El Clasico match isn't exactly common (though it happened in March 2014 when Messi scored a hat trick to give Barca a 4-3 away win over Real Madrid). Needless to say, though, notching two or three goals in Sunday's match would be a big accomplishment for either team's top scorers-especially since Neymar, Luis Suarez, and Cristiano Ronaldo are all competing to be the La Liga's top goalscorer this season.

Will Lionel Messi Return?

While the old questions of "who will win?" and "who will score the goals?" are obviously being asked about the November 21st El Clasico match, the biggest question has to be about whether or not the game will see Lionel Messi returning to the soccer pitch.

Messi tore ligaments in his left knee in a September 26th match against Las Palmas and has been out ever since. Rumors from the Barcelona camp indicate that Leo is back on his feet, running, and kicking the ball in practice. He won't start in El Clasico, but he could reportedly be subbed in around the 60-minute mark if Barca trainers believe he is healthy enough.

Undoubtedly, a reunion of the Messi-Suarez-Neymar trio would turn the energy of the match in Barcelona's favor, but will it (or should it) happen? Find us online to share your El Clasico thoughts and predictions. You can find Soccer Box on social media at Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr, as well as other popular social platforms.