Lionel Messi earns how much more than Eden Hazard? The biggest salaries at Real Madrid and Barcelona, in pictures

Spanish giants meet in the clasico on Sunday night

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The clasico between Real Madrid and Barcelona on Sunday night will have huge ramifications in La Liga's title race.

Champions Barca take a two-point lead into the clash at the Bernabeu after cashing in on a wobble from Zinedine Zidane's side, who drew 2-2 with Celta Vigo and lost to Levante in their last two league fixtures.

Barca drew 1-1 at Napoli in the Champions League midweek, a result which masked a shaky performance, and seemed to confirm Lionel Messi's fears that they are not good enough to win the trophy.

"This clasico is like a race between two injured people, the reality is the two teams are doing very badly," said former Real Madrid and Argentina forward Jorge Valdano.

"Barcelona's recovery owes far more to Real's decline than their own merits. Real's slip ups have strengthened Barca, who put in an abysmal performance against Napoli."

Both sides head into Sunday's game with selection issues, with Real light on forwards due to the absence of Marco Asensio, Eden Hazard and Rodrygo.

Barca, meanwhile, need to fill holes all over the pitch, with Jordi Alba, Sergi Roberto, Ousmane Dembele and Luis Suarez all injured and Gerard Pique facing a battle to be fit.

Naturally, players from two of the world's biggest clubs are well rewarded for their talents. But which side edges the pay battle? Above is a gallery of the top 11 earners from each squad, compiled using statistics from totalsportek.com and fcbarcelonalatestnews.com.

These figures do not necessarily reflect any improved contracts signed by players since the start of the 2019/20 campaign.

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