Real Madrid vs. Barcelona: First Clásico set for Oct. 26

The first Clásico of the LaLiga season will kick off at 4.15 p.m. local time (11.15 a.m. ET) on Sunday, Oct. 26.

Real Madrid will host Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu in the first, highly anticipated clash between the two giants in 2025-26.

Madrid are top of the LaLiga table with a perfect 18 points from six games, with last season’s champions, Barcelona — who have a game in hand, visiting Real Oviedo on Thursday — giving chase in second.

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Barça came out on top in all four Clásicos in 2024-25 — an unprecedented achievement — with victories in LaLiga, twice, the Spanish Supercopa and the Copa del Rey.

Hansi Flick’s team recorded a comprehensive 4-0 win at the Santiago Bernabeú in LaLiga on Oct. 26, 2024, before winning the Supercopa final in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 5-2.

They then won the Copa del Rey final — a more closely contested encounter — 3-2 in Seville, before triumphing 4-3 in the last Clásico of the season at Montjuic, after Madrid had taken an early lead.

Barcelona’s Clásico dominance helped them win a LaLiga, Copa del Rey and Supercopa domestic treble last season, while Madrid ended the campaign without a major trophy.

Next month’s fixture could feature seven of the top 30 men’s players in the 2025 Ballon d’Or ranking: Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Kylian Mbappé, Pedri, Vinícius Júnior, Robert Lewandowski and Jude Bellingham.

Mbappé is top scorer in LaLiga so far this season with five goals, closely followed by Barça’s Ferran Torres, with four.

October’s meeting will be the first Clásico as coach for Madrid boss Xabi Alonso, after he took over from Carlo Ancelotti this summer.