Camp Nou has waited 1,148 days to stage another El Clasico. Barcelona, after years of renovation schedules and temporary arrangements, returns to its rebuilt home with the kind of occasion that writes itself. Beat Real Madrid on Sunday, or even hold it to a draw, and the league is won. For Madrid, that is the most uncomfortable part of the journey. It is travelling there with its own house in disorder.
Barcelona heads into the clash 11 points clear with four matches left, the title in its hands. Hansi Flick’s side has turned the run-in into a procession, and the arithmetic is brutal for Madrid.
Anything short of victory at the Camp Nou will confirm Barcelona as La Liga champion with three games to spare. Even a Madrid win would delay what has felt inevitable.
At Real Madrid, inevitability has taken a different form. A season that began with the promise of another star-heavy project is close to ending without a major trophy for a second straight year.
Xabi Alonso did not survive January, with Alvaro Arbeloa stepping in after the Spanish Super Cup final defeat to Barcelona. Arbeloa’s debut brought a Copa del Rey exit against second-division Albacete, and the Champions League campaign later ended in the quarterfinals against Bayern Munich.
The simming tension has now boiled over outside the pitch. Spanish media reports this week claimed Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni had to be separated after a training-ground argument two days in a row. That followed reports of an incident involving Antonio Rudiger and Alvaro Carreras, which Carreras later described on Instagram as an isolated matter that had been resolved. Dani Ceballos has also been caught in reports of a strained relationship with Arbeloa.
Each episode, taken alone, can be dismissed as the heat of a failing season. Together, they point to a group that has lost its centre. Madrid has spent recent years saying goodbye to much of its old dressing-room order.
Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Sergio Ramos represented more than matches and medals. They were reference points, the kind of players who could steady a room before a crack became a split. In their absence, Arbeloa has inherited a squad heavy with talent but short of calm.
The Kylian Mbappe issue has become the most visible symbol of that unrest. Madrid’s top-scorer, with 41 goals in as many games this season, is a doubt for the Clasico after the club confirmed a hamstring injury in his left leg. Yet the injury has not shielded him from criticism. His trip to Sardinia with an actor during recovery drew anger from sections of the fan base, while an online “Mbappe out” petition spread across social media.
There is an easy story to tell there: the superstar, the holiday, the anger. But Madrid’s problems are not so simple. Mbappe has scored enough to avoid becoming the lone explanation. The larger issue is what the club looks like around him: a side without rhythm, a coach fighting for authority, injuries on the rise and a summer rebuild already hovering over every match.
Ferland Mendy’s latest setback has deepened that feeling. The defender suffered a tendon injury in his right leg during the win at Espanyol, another blow to a squad already stretched. Thibaut Courtois’ return to training offers some relief, but Madrid arrives in Barcelona with too many questions.
Even the managerial conversation has become a distraction. Florentino Perez is reportedly considering another twist, with Jose Mourinho linked with a possible return. Mourinho would bring force, authority and discipline. Whether he would bring stability is a waiting game.
That is why Sunday’s Clasico feels heavier than the league standings. Barcelona can turn its homecoming into a coronation. Madrid can postpone it, and perhaps rescue a little pride from a season that has drained quickly. These are not ordinary times for Real Madrid.
At Camp Nou, Madrid will be asked to do what it has done so often in its history: stand up when the room expects collapse. This time, though, the opponent is not only Barcelona. It is the chaos Madrid carries with it.
Published on May 07, 2026