Just as every great film director will want to make his World War II opus at some point, every soccer writer has 5,000 thoughtful words or maybe an entire book (such as the excellent one by Sid Lowe earlier this year) on El Clásico. Every match featuring these two teams involves a disproportionate number of the world's best players, causes Spain to stop altogether and the entire football world circles the dates on their calendar.

I definitely have one of those in me, but this article isn’t one of them. Instead, how important have the results of El Clásico really been to which club actually wins La Liga over the past decade? 

2014: Atlético Madrid

Barcelona (6 points, +2)

Barça took the full six available points against Real Madrid and would have won La Liga had they beaten Atleti on the final day of the season, but Diego Simeone’s side salvaged a draw. Barça finished the season with the best goal differential, while Real Madrid matched their 87 points. Real Madrid wins La Liga instead of Atleti if they were to get a win against Barça.

2013: Barcelona (+15)

Real Madrid (4 points, +1), Barcelona (1 point)

Barça was nearly a wire-to-wire winner after a slow start from Real Madrid to the season.

2012: Real Madrid (+9)

Barcelona (3 points, +1), Real Madrid (3 points)

Real Madrid hit the 100-point plateau and had a +89 goal differential despite splitting against Barça.

2011: Barcelona (+4)

Barcelona (4 points, +5), Real Madrid (1 point)

This is most recent season in which La Liga was won by one of these two sides and the point differential was less than six. Barça also won the Champions League and represents the high point of the Pep Guardiola-era. Real Madrid finished 21 points ahead of third place Valencia, but not being able to do better against Barça swung the title. The Copa del Rey was the consolation prize in José Mourinho’s first season.

2010: Barcelona (+2)

Barcelona (6 points, +3)

Real Madrid was again way ahead of third place Valencia (25 points) and the results of El Clásico gave Barça what was their 20th title.

2009: Barcelona (+9)

Barcelona (6 points, +6)

Barça won La Liga by a comfortable margin, which made El Clásico inconsequential.

2008: Real Madrid (+18)

Real Madrid (6 points, +4)

There have been so many dominant Barça seasons recently, but they finished third this season as the club went through a major transitional phase for what became their remarkable run.

2007: Real Madrid (even)

Real Madrid (6 points, +4)

Barça was the better side in 06-07 with a +45 goal differential compared to +26 for Real Madrid, but squandered an immense lead in the table and were useless in El Clásico.

2006: Barcelona (+12)

Barcelona (4 points, +3), Real Madrid (1 point)

Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o were brilliant throughout the season, while Real Madrid’s Galacticos were an ill-fitting and aging side by this point.

2005: Barcelona (+4)

Barcelona (3 points, +1), Real Madrid (3 points)

Barcelona undoubtedly belonged to Ronaldinho and Eto’o, but it coincidentally marked the debut of Lionel Messi. Valencia had won La Liga in 2004 and the two matches of El Clásico were of great importance.