Barcelona's Espart: 'It'll be a war' ahead of possible Clasico debut

Barcelona defender Xavi Espart said facing Real Madrid on Sunday "will be a war," in what would be his first appearance in the fixture, IANS reported.

Barcelona defender Xavi Espart said Sunday's Clasico against Real Madrid "will be a war," Goal reported.

Espart said: "It'll be a war. We'll go all out; we have to give 100 per cent and we've got the chance to take more points off them. We'll fight to the bitter end."

Espart made the comments after scoring his first Champions League goal for Barcelona in their 4-2 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, Goal reported.

Espart was an unused substitute when Barcelona beat Real Madrid in the previous Clasico in May, and is in contention to start this one if he recovers from a minor ankle problem, IANS reported on 23 October 2026. If he does start, it would be his first appearance in the fixture.

Barcelona host Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday, 25 October, in a La Liga fixture, according to Real Madrid's official website.

The photograph above shows the exterior of Camp Nou, Barcelona's home stadium, pictured in 2022, not from the build-up to this Clasico. Credit: JaflaumS05, "Camp Nou - FC Barcelona - Barcelona", Wikimedia Commons, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International, creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.

Sources: Goal, Real Madrid CF, IANS.