Barcelona, Spain – It has been 15 years since Jose Mourinho was first thrown into the ring of fire at Camp Nou and the famously polarising manager’s Real Madrid side was handed a La Liga battering by Barcelona. The home team’s supporters have not forgotten that cold November night from 2010, when Pep Guardiola’s men stamped their authority with a 5-0 win. It became an enduring image of a rivalry that spilled from the pitch onto the touchline, sparking heated confrontations among players and bitter exchanges between managers for years to come. Now, Barcelona – the city and the club – are ready to “welcome back” Mourinho on his second stint as the manager of their fiercest rival. “I remember the 5-0 [scoreline] but also the tension,” recalls Aleix Soler, a Barcelona fan. “You’d spend the whole week arguing about the game even before a ball was kicked,” he tells Al Jazeera at a Barcelona fan zone.
The 35-year-old culer – as Barcelona’s supporters are known – will watch the match, having also attended games during Mourinho’s first Madrid spell. “Beating Madrid is always special, but against Mourinho, you’re still smiling on Monday morning.” As Mourinho returns to the fixture after 13 years on Sunday, he will face another Barcelona side that has set a punishing pace in the league. The spotlight will be on Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe – with their growing rivalry adding another dramatic layer to the plot. The two forwards meet a day before the Ballon d’Or award ceremony in London, bringing individual ambition to a contest that isn’t shorn of consequences for either club. Barcelona have won all nine of their league games, scoring 39 goals, and lead Madrid by six points.
Victory would stretch that gap to nine. A Madrid win would not only reduce it to three points, but also inject new belief in Mourinho’s side. Mourinho acknowledged the significance of the occasion after his team’s Champions League victory over RB Leipzig on Wednesday. “It’s another league match, but it’s not a match like the others,” he told local broadcaster Movistar. Madrid are third in La Liga standings, behind Atletico Madrid, and have lost six of their past seven Clasicos.
Mourinho must find a way to interrupt that pattern before the title chase intensifies. While Hansi Flick has made this fixture a source of strength for Barcelona in his two years as manager, the hosts approach it with their own questions after a 4-2 defeat at Paris Saint-Germain, their first loss of the season, on Tuesday. Barcelona scored freely against Getafe, Galatasaray and Real Betis before travelling to France. In Paris, their attacking threat remained but defensive absences and the spaces opened up to PSG made the evening uncomfortable.
Barcelona defenders Eric Garcia and Jules Kounde were out injured, leaving Flick with Xavi Espart and Joao Cancelo as full-back options on either side of Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin. Kounde remained absent from training on Friday, while midfielder Dani Olmo’s adductor injury further narrowed the coach’s options. Madrid enjoyed a more encouraging European evening, beating Leipzig 4-1 with goals from Bernardo Silva, Arda Guler, Mbappe and Yan Diomande. Their three wins from three Champions League games offer a foundation, even if domestic consistency has proved harder to establish.
However, they will face Barcelona without the suspended Vinicius Junior, removing one of their most dangerous runners and leaving Mourinho with another decision to make about Mbappe. Yan Diomande offers an alternative on the left, while Guler’s passing and Jude Bellingham’s movement could be essential to getting Madrid’s leading scorer into dangerous positions. The task begins with escaping Barcelona’s pressure. If Madrid can move the ball beyond the first challenge and find a passer facing forward, Mbappe can attack the space behind Flick’s defensive line.
For Barcelona, maintaining pressure on that passer will be as important as tracking the run. Retreat too readily, and they risk losing the compact shape that allows them to recover possession and keep attacks coming. Federico Valverde’s recent deployment at right-back gives Madrid another route forward, with his overlapping runs complementing teammates who move inside. Whether Mourinho keeps him there will help determine the balance between creativity and defensive cover in midfield.
Madrid must decide how much attention they can afford to give Yamal. The young sensation’s dribbling can draw a second defender towards Barcelona’s right wing, but that help comes at a cost elsewhere as Pedri can redirect possession towards the space left open. Meanwhile, Raphinha’s movement threatens opponents concentrating on the ball, and his 12 league goals underline the danger of treating Barcelona as a one-man attack. Stopping Yamal from beating his marker will achieve little success if the supporting defensive movements leave another player free.
For Real Madrid fans, one glorious night at Camp Nou could be seen as a turning point. “Winning there would make me believe we can win the league, especially if we play with courage”, says Lucia Martin, a Madrid supporter. The 26-year-old is travelling to Barcelona with her father to attend the game, and much of her hope rests on Mbappe, although she wants the team to share the responsibility. “When he gets the ball, I always think something can happen, but we can’t spend 90 minutes waiting for him to rescue us.” Despite leading all conversations around the match, Yamal and Mbappe will rarely confront each other directly; their influence will be measured in the problems they create for everyone else. Yamal has eight goals and six assists in nine league appearances. Mbappe has nine goals and two assists across the same number of games.
One can pull defenders towards the ball before releasing a teammate, the other can force them backwards with the threat of a run. Both are nominees for the upcoming Ballon d’Or and although the match falls outside the assessment period for this year’s award, it will serve as the perfect build-up to one of the most hotly-contested awards in recent years. Before football celebrates its outstanding performers in London, two of its strongest claimants to the title of world’s best will share a stage where reputations are tested under exceptional pressure and strengthen their claim as the world’s best. On the eve of the Ballon d’Or, Yamal has a chance to extend Barcelona’s perfect start and deepen Madrid’s frustration.
For Mbappe, there is the opportunity to bring his team back into the race at their rival’s expense.
