2026 is set to get off to a blockbuster start. There’s a real appetite for football's return to the menu, and for a derby! Barça and Espanyol face off on 3 January at the RCDE Stadium in what we might describe as the best derby of recent years, or at least one in which both sides arrive in their strongest form. Hansi Flick’s team’s brand of football and Manolo González’s side’s solidity are the perfect ingredients for the occasion.

First versus fifth

The match comes at the perfect moment for both the blaugranes and the parakeets. Barça lead LaLiga with 46 points and are on a run of eight consecutive league victories. Flick has found the right formula, and the team are looking increasingly sharp, decisive and clear in their ideas on the pitch.

Espanyol, meanwhile, are also flying. González has built a very compact unit that has won its last five league matches. They head into 2025 on 33 points, their highest tally at this stage since 2008, and sit fifth in the table. There is no doubt both teams are arriving in excellent form.

To put the scale of the occasion into context, the two sides have not met with Barça top of the table and Espanyol in the top five since the 2010/11 season.

A clash of styles

Both winning streaks make sense when you look at the contrasting styles of the two teams. Barça, with their home-grown DNA as a starting point, are the team with the highest possession in the league (68.7%) and are defined by an upbeat, attacking approach. Espanyol, by contrast, have the lowest possession figure in the competition (40.9%) and base their game on defensive strength and efficiency in both boxes. Proof of that solidity is the 17 goals conceded so far this season, three fewer than Barça themselves!

Strong run against Espanyol

Derbies are always difficult matches for any side. Expectations are inevitably high and victory always provides an extra burst of energy. In Barça’s case, they are on a 28-match unbeaten run against Espanyol (21 wins and 7 draws), one of the longest streaks in the competition’s history. Even so, winning at a ground like the RCDE Stadium will be anything but straightforward.

Bring on Saturday and what promises to be a thrilling game of football!

Força Barça