Opportunity to humiliate them — Barca to the title in El Clasico against anarchic Real Madrid?

Football has set the stage, it’s on us to be grateful. Because tonight at 22:00 at Camp Nou we will watch an El Clasico that could easily be labeled “historic.” It is already known that Barcelona will be the new, old champions of Spain, and so the Clasico becomes historic… How?

Never in the 98-year history of La Liga have the Catalans lifted the trophy by defeating their greatest football rival. That rival is currently as thin as tissue paper, as fragile as a footprint in the sand waiting for the tide and the first wave to erase it.

Because we know when the Royal Club is at its weakest — when it lacks control, trophies, and hierarchy. In the current season, Real Madrid has none of those pillars of stability. That is why Barcelona now has a historic opportunity. Even though they are without the injured Lamine Yamal, and even though Raphinha has been out for a long time, the Catalans have everything that Real lacks.

They have team unity, a clear game plan, the status of absolute favorite, and the desire to make the night of May 10, 2026 unforgettable. And on top of that, several smaller goals they are chasing. For example, to record their 106th El Clasico win and equal their arch-rival.

Or, if the match opens up, to even catch Real in total goals scored in the biggest derby in world football (444:439). Barcelona can go even further if they beat Real today. Besides winning the title and forcing Los Blancos to suffer at the biggest European stadium, which would instantly become a house of horror for them, Barca is also chasing a 100-point season and can achieve it if they win all four remaining league matches.

They are also aiming to finish the season with a perfect record at home — 19 wins out of 19 — and to help their goalkeeper Joan Garcia win the Zamora Trophy, awarded to the best goalkeeper in Spain, in his debut season.

Barca stick with the man who delivers — Hansi Flick stays at least another year!

It is clear how many motivations are in the minds of Barcelona’s players. Real Madrid only has one. To spoil the Catalans’ celebration and ensure that the joy of their most hated rival is delayed for a few days and takes place far away from them. That is the only thing the Royal Club could celebrate tonight at Camp Nou.

A win for the visitors would not immediately close the Pandora’s box from which misfortunes have been spilling since April. The football world has been feeding on the double physical altercation between Fede Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni in Real’s dressing room, and is hungry for more dirty laundry from the most decorated European club. Valverde will miss the Clasico due to a head injury, while Tchouameni, despite a heavy fine, has been forgiven and will be on the pitch.

Madrid in disarray: Chaos, meltdowns and the second round of Tchouameni-Valverde fight

Kylian Mbappe has completed part of training ahead of Barcelona and is expected to be in the squad, most likely starting on the bench. The biggest boost for Real is the return of Thibaut Courtois, a leader whose voice in the dressing room is heard and respected.

A large part of Real’s squad has long stopped listening to Alvaro Arbeloa, so Real’s motto at Camp Nou will be pride, defiance, and sheer willpower. Perhaps a surprise victory, achieved through sheer noise and chaos, could silence the noise their own unruly stars have created.

Perhaps Mbappe could make millions of people reconsider after a recent online petition calling for the Frenchman to leave the Bernabeu, although his footballing quality has never been in doubt — only his enormous ego and the damage it causes.

All Real players will be watching Vinicius Junior tonight. Without his contribution, it is hard to imagine them preventing Barcelona’s coronation. Meanwhile, Mundo Deportivo is already speculating who Hansi Flick will assign to “contain” the Brazilian — Jules Kounde, Eric Garcia, or Ronald Araujo?

The answer will come tonight in a match that will not be attended by Real president Florentino Perez, partly due to strained relations between the clubs and partly due to the possible outcome. While Spanish media buzzes about Mourinho’s return to the Bernabeu, Arbeloa yesterday justified his players’ fight by saying he once had a teammate who hit another teammate with a golf club.

Mourinho wants it, Florentino wants it; Special one is leading candidate for Real Madrid bench!

So now you see who Real Madrid’s management has entrusted with the most demanding dressing room in the world, and why the royal circus has fallen apart, resembling Bayern’s old “FC Hollywood.”

And since we already have traces of Hollywood, and a potentially unprecedented script in the making, let the entire film crew be at its peak. Let this be remembered as an El Clasico that, under slightly different circumstances, could have been merely procedural.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 35

Friday

Levante - Osasuna 2-2 (2-2)

/Garcia 35, 37 - Toljan 3 og, Budimir 11/

Elche - Alaves 1-1 (0-0)

/Rodriguez 72 - Martinez 51 pen/

Sevilla - Espanyol 2-1 (0-0)

/Castrin 82, Adams 90+1 - Dolan 56/

Atletico Madrid - Celta Vigo 0-1 (0-0)

/Iglesias 62/

Real Sociedad - Real Betis 2-2 (0-1)

/Oskarsson 79, Oyarzabal 90 pen - Antony 39, Ezzalzouli 47/

Sunday

15.00: (2.45) Mallorca (3.65) Villarreal (2.85)

17.15: (1.75) Athletic Bilbao (3.60) Valencia (4.90)

19.30: (3.05) Real Oviedo (3.10) Getafe (2.50)

22.00: (1.70) Barcelona (5.00) Real Madrid (4.20)

Monday

22.00: (2.35) Rayo Vallecano (3.40) Girona (3.00)

***odds are subject to change***