Barcelona and Real Madrid have announced their starting eleven for the first Clásico of the season when the bitter rivals meet in La Liga at Camp Nou on Sunday.
The hosts have won all nine of their league games in 2026/27 and are two points ahead of second-placed Atlético Madrid – with one game to spare.
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Third-placed Real Madrid have also played nine games in this year’s top division and are six points behind Barça, with both of their league defeats away from home.
Los Blancos are on a four-game winning streak in all competitions after their 4-1 win at home over Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday – the day after Barça lost 4-2 away to Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona’s starting eleven
Barcelona make two changes from the loss in Paris and put Rodri and Fermín López in midfield.
Dani Olmo was substituted in the first half of that game with a left adductor injury. Marc Bernal moves to the bench.
Barcelona: Joan García – Xavi Espart, Pau Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, João Cancelo – Pedri, Rodri, Fermín López – Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Anthony Gordon
Substitutes: Wojciech Szczęsny, Alejandro Balde, Brian Farinas, Gavi, Gabriel Jesus, Karim Adeyemi, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Bernal, Dominik Livaković, Hamza Abdelkarim, Orian Goren, Alex Campos
Real Madrid’s starting eleven
Andrij Lunin replaces Thibaut Courtois in goal for Madrid because the Belgian goalkeeper has the flu.
Defenders Ibrahima Konaté and Marc Cucurella, midfielder Aurélien Tchouaméni and winger Yan Diomande also come in from the win over Leipzig.
Álvaro Carreras, Antonio Rüdiger and Eduardo Camavinga move to the bench. Vinícius Júnior is suspended.
Real Madrid: Andrij Lunin – Federico Valverde, Ibrahima Konaté, Dean Huijsen, Marc Cucurella – Bernardo Silva, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Arda Güler – Jude Bellingham, Yan Diomande, Kylian Mbappé
Substitutes: Illia Voloshyn, Sergio Mestre, Éder Militão, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Álvaro Carreras, Antonio Rüdiger, Denzel Dumfries, Eduardo Camavinga, Thiago Pitarch, Endrick, Carlos Espí, Brahim Díaz
Statistics before El Clásico
- Six of the last seven meetings between the teams in all competitions have ended in a Barça win – the exception being a 2-1 home win for Madrid last season.
- Barça have won three of their last four home games against Madrid in La Liga, punctuated by a 2-1 win for the Blancos in October 2023, when Jude Bellingham scored in the 68th and 92nd minutes after İlkay Gündoğan had opened the scoring.
- Lionel Messi is the top scorer in the history of the match with 15 goals against Madrid. The other two players with double-digit scores both played for Madrid: Alfredo Di Stéfano (13) and Raúl (12).
- Hansi Flick’s side have won eight consecutive home games in all competitions since their 2-0 defeat to Atlético Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League on April 14.
- Lamine Yamal has six assists for Barça – more than any other player in this season’s league. Espanyol’s Javi Hernández has five, while Barcelona’s Anthony Gordon and Alavés’ Mariano Díaz have four each.
- Barça striker Raphinha is the division’s top scorer with 12 goals after eight games – having played one game fewer than the six players directly behind him with nine goals. Two of these are Yamal and Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé, while Barcelona’s Fermín López and Levante’s Roger Brugué have eight each.
- Since a league draw at Camp Nou in December 2019, each of the last 21 editions of El Clásico has had at least one goal – with at least two goals in each of the last 12 games.
- It was also the last draw between the teams, although Barcelona won the final of the 2024/25 Copa del Rey after extra time – with Madrid winning the semi-finals of the 2021/22 Supercopa after 30 extra minutes.
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