Barcelona vs Espanyol, La Liga: Preview
Barça face a free-falling local rival looking to stay in full control of the title race
Joan Garcia of FC Barcelona during the La Liga EA Sports 2025/26 match between FC Barcelona and Sevilla FC at Spotify Camp Nou Stadium on March 15, 2026, in Barcelona, Spain. (Photo by Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images) | NurPhoto via Getty Images FC Barcelona (1st, 76pts) vs RCD Espanyol (10th, 38pts) Competition/Round : 2025-26 La Liga , Matchday 31 Barcelona Outs & Doubts : Raphinha, Andreas Christensen, Marc Bernal (out) Espanyol Outs & Doubts : Javi Puado, Clemens Riedel (out) Barcelona Form Guide : WWWWL Espanyol Form Guide : DDLLD Date/Time : Saturday, April 4, 2026, 6. 30pm CET/WAT (Barcelona), 5.
30pm GMT (UK & Nigeria), 12. 30pm ET, 9. 30am PT (USA), 10pm IST (India) Venue : Camp Nou, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain Referee : Alejandro José Hernández Hernández VAR : Valentín Pizarro Gómez How to watch on TV : ESPN Deportes (USA), Premier Sports 2 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), others How to watch o nline : ESPN+ (USA), Premier Sports Player (UK), FanCode (India), DAZN (Spain), others Following a painful defeat to Atlético Madrid in the first leg of the Champions League quarter-finals, Barcelona take a quick break from their European exploits to try and take another step towards the La Liga title when they welcome city rivals Espanyol to the Greatest Stadium on Earth on Saturday evening, in what will be the first Barcelona Derby at Camp Nou since December 2022.
Barça come into this one looking for a seventh consecutive victory in the league, which would increase the gap at the top of the table to nine points following Real Madrid’s draw against Girona on Friday. The Blaugrana are also focused on an European comeback at the Metropolitano next Tuesday, but a win on Saturday is vital to take another big step towards the league title. Hansi Flick has hinted at some rotation of his squad to save some of his key players for the trip to Madrid, but he also made clear he’s fully focused on getting a win in the derby.
And Barça will be huge favorites on paper, especially considering Espanyol’s horrible run. The first three and a half months of 2026 have been an absolute nightmare for the Periquitos , who have not won a single game since losing at home to Barça in the first game of the new year. Since Joan Garcia put on a show at Cornellà on January 3, Espanyol have been on a 13-game winless run with eight defeats, a very poor defense (which had been their biggest strength in the first half of the season), and some truly unwatchable football at times.