The primary sport of 2026 is right here for Barcelona, and so they couldn’t have requested for a extra explosive begin to the brand new yr.
In any case, the Blaugrana journey away to tackle Espanyol on Saturday in what will probably be a high-intensity Catalan derby – one which will probably be a deal with for the eyes.
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Latest years have seen Barcelona take down Espanyol with relative ease, as soon as sending them to relegation after which profitable the league title on their grass. The competitors this time, nonetheless, will probably be far tighter.
Espanyol are on an excellent run of type this season and hit the midway mark in La Liga in fifth place on the standings. They’ve gained ten of their 17 video games, drawn three, and misplaced simply 4 – and will probably be desperate to take down their sworn rivals on Saturday evening.
Barça Common brings you three speaking factors forward of Espanyol vs Barcelona.
Good day 2026
Whereas the world of soccer doesn’t normally run on the idea of calendar years, Barcelona will fondly keep in mind 2025 for a very long time to return.
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It’s true that the 2024-25 season, as an entire, was a constructive one for the Catalans as they made their presence recognized as soon as once more as a potent menace. They gained the home treble and have been inside minutes of reaching the UEFA Champions League remaining.
A giant a part of these positives, nonetheless, got here in 2025, and one remembers how 2024 ended with the workforce on a downward spiral.
Successful the Spanish Tremendous Cup in January 2025 got here as an enormous increase to the workforce’s morale and perception, and the constructive impact rippled into their performances within the league.
They quickly received onto an ideal run of type in La Liga, capitalising on every of Actual Madrid and Atletico Madrid’s slip-ups to retake the lead within the standings – ultimately culminating in them lifting the title.
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Tomorrow’s sport would be the workforce’s first in 2026, and the dressing room and administration will hope for the same increase to the season as they earned at this level final season.
It is going to be an opportunity to start out afresh, play with higher synergy, and put the hiccups of the start of the season behind. With the primary trophy on the road quickly, there’s all of the extra motivation to start out off on the best foot tomorrow.
The Joan Garcia issue
Joan Garcia returns to Espanyol this weekend. (Photograph by Alex Caparros/Getty Photos)
With Barcelona and Espanyol taking over one another tomorrow, one can anticipate the tensions to run excessive as all the time, particularly given how the derby by no means disappoints on that entrance.
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This time, nonetheless, the warmth might be turned up one other notch, and Joan Garcia is the single-most accountable issue for a similar.
The previous Espanyol star will return to the RCDE stadium tomorrow for the primary time since his controversial transfer to Barcelona in the summertime, one which riled up the house supporters and understandably so.
Given the rivalry between the 2 sides, few gamers have crossed the border and switched faiths between the 2 Catalan sides previously. To take action simply after his career-best season, evidently, was a courageous transfer for Garcia.
The switch has to this point, each for Barcelona and the participant himself, however tomorrow with the Espanyol devoted undoubtedly set at hand him a hostile reception.
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Safety will certainly run tight, however there isn’t any doubt that each one eyes will probably be on Joan Garcia and the way all the evening performs out for him.
Pedri’s return
There are a couple of gamers in Hansi Flick’s facet whose absence is straight away palpable within the workforce’s efficiency on the sector. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha are two such ‘hearts’ of the system, and the third is Pedri Gonzalez.
The Canary Islander could, in reality, be Barcelona’s single most essential participant when one considers how severely the Catalans lose management of the sport in his absence, one thing that has change into very clear within the few video games he has missed to this point this season.
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The 23-year-old was out for over a month after El Clasico, and made his return in opposition to Alaves in late November. He then, nonetheless, missed out on the workforce’s conflict in opposition to Villarreal simply earlier than the Christmas break as a result of a setback.
Whereas the Blaugrana did pull off the win over the Yellow Submarines, it was conspicuous all through the sport that Pedri’s playmaking, defensive contributions, and safety on the ball have been direly missed – one thing even Frenkie de Jong struggled to copy.
Tomorrow, the participant will return to the beginning lineup after recovering from his blow, and Barcelona can hope to dictate play by way of the center as soon as extra. The significance of his return can’t be understated.
What may also be attention-grabbing to comply with is how the scenario impacts De Jong’s participation and whether or not the supervisor will hand the Dutchman a begin or return to the Pedri-Eric Garcia duo.