Barcelona and Real Madrid will contest the 264th El Clasico when the Spanish giants come together in a La Liga clash on Sunday.
Rarely will there have been a more highly charged atmosphere with a heavily demoralised Real arriving in the Catalan capital, facing the prospect of watching their fiercest rivals crowned champions on the day.
Although knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the quarterfinals, as Los Blancos were too, Barca are well on course to defend their La Liga crown – and at a canter.
Al Jazeera Sport takes a look at the talking points heading into the game and what the history is of a 124-year-old rivalry.
The headline news surrounding Sunday’s game is the availability of Kylian Mbappe, with the French striker a doubt for the Clasico because of a hamstring injury.
The 27-year-old striker tops the scoring charts in the Spanish league this season with 24 goals. Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi is a surprise second on the list with 21 strikes, while Barca’s Lamine Yamal, who is out for the remainder of the season, has netted 16 times and is third on the list.
Despite Mbappe’s goalscoring achievements, a “Mbappe out” petition has garnered more than 33 million signatures calling for the club to sell the striker, who joined from Paris Saint-Germain two seasons ago.
Federico Valverde will definitely miss out on El Clasico after a training ground bust-up on Thursday resulted in the midfielder being taken to hospital.
The 27-year-old Uruguayan is understood to have sustained a head injury following an incident with teammate Aurelien Tchouameni.
Real have said they are investigating internally, and have already decided to open disciplinary proceedings against both players.
It is not yet clear if Frenchman Tchouameni will be available for Sunday’s match as a result.
Alvaro Arbeloa’s Real trail Hansi Flick’s reigning champions by 11 points with four matches remaining, and are sinking towards a second straight season without a major trophy.
Anything but a win for Real on Sunday will see Barca lift the trophy in their own stadium against the only side to have won La Liga more.
The term El Clasico first appeared in a Spanish newspaper during the 1960s in reference to matches between the two biggest club teams in Spain.
The simple translation is “The Classic”.
By that time, the match had already been long considered one of sport’s fiercest derbies.
Originally, the phrase “Viejo Clasico” (Old Classic) was a term that referred to the Madrid derby between Real and Athletic Bilbao.
The match between the pair has historically been the most-played fixture in Spanish football before the rise of Barcelona to one of the two most prominent teams in the country.
The term El Clasico, although a 1960s invention in Spain, became a more widely popular and globally associated name when the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona peaked in the 1990s.
Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona were a side to be feared on the global stage, but Quinta del Buitre’s Real were putting up a stern test. In the late 90s, Real’s superstar lineup was dubbed the Galacticos following the heavy financial investment in overseas stars such as Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and David Beckham.
By the turn of the century, the rivalry was recognised as one of the biggest match-ups in world sport and heralded in the era of Pep Guardiola vs Jose Mourinho in the dugouts – and the small matter of Lionel Messi vs Cristiano Ronaldo on the field.
The first match between the clubs took place on May 13, 1902, in the Copa de la Coronacion (a predecessor to the Copa del Rey).
Barcelona won the match 3-1 in the Spanish capital against Madrid FC (the club later became Real Madrid).
Of the 261 matches between the clubs over the last 124 years, Real have won 106, while Barcelona have won 105.
Real have lifted the La Liga trophy 36 times while Barca are targeting their 28th title.
We will bring you our comprehensive text commentary stream of Sunday’s match, starting with our usual extensive build-up – including all the news, analyses and opinion surrounding the game.
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