FC Barcelona (1st, 82pts) vs RCD Espanyol (16th, 39pts)
Competition/Round: 2024-25 La Liga, Matchday 36
Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Iñigo Martínez, Ferran Torres, Pablo Torre, Jules Kounde, Marc Bernal (out)
Espanyol Outs & Doubts: Pol Lozano, Brian Oliván (doubt)
Date/Time: Thursday, May 15, 2025, 9.30pm CET (Barcelona), 8.30pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 3.30pm ET, 12.30pm PT (USA), 1am IST (India, Friday)
Venue: RCDE Stadium, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Referee: César Soto Grado
VAR: Javier Iglesias Villanueva
How to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), ITV 4, Premier Sports 1 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), Movistar (Spain), others
How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), ITVX, LaLigaTV (UK), FanCode (India), Movistar+ (Spain), others
Following an epic win over Real Madrid in the final El Clásico of the season at the weekend, Barcelona return to action with a chance to clinch the La Liga title with two games to spare as the Blaugrana face city rivals Espanyol at the RCDE Stadium on Thursday night.
Barça were 15 seconds away from winning the league without even playing on Wednesday, but Madrid scored a miraculous late winner to force the Blaugrana to finish the job themselves at Cornellà.
So now we are officially set for a potential repeat of what happened two years ago in the same fixture at the same stadium: Xavi Hernández’s troops dominated Espanyol and sealed their local rivals’ relegation with a dominant victory that clinched the championship, but the celebrations were cut short as angry Espanyol fans invaded the pitch and chased Barça’s players off the field.
We are all hoping that those ugly scenes don’t happen again, but Hansi Flick’s men are still hungry to clinch the title and have a full-on party at Montjuïc against Villarreal on Sunday, where they’ll get to lift the trophy if they do their homework on Thursday.
But no one should expecting things to be as easy as they were two years ago: this is a different and much improved Espanyol team, with a strong defensive structure and a fantastic home record. They’ve lost just once at home since October, and beat Real Madrid while also avoiding defeat against Atlético Madrid and Athletic Bilbao. They are physical and strong all over the pitch, and are determined to stop Barça from celebrating the title in their stadium by all means necessary.
This will not be pretty, but it doesn’t need to be. All Barça have to do is find a way to win, so they can wrap up the league and celebrate a glorious ending to an unforgettable season on Sunday.
Let’s dance.
POSSIBLE LINEUPS
Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Szczesny; Eric, Christensen, Cubarsí, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Yamal, Fermín, Raphinha; Lewandowski
Espanyol (4-2-3-1): García; Carreras, Kumbulla, Cabrera, Romero; González, Kral; Roca, Expósito, Puado; Roberto
PREDICTION
Espanyol are awesome at home, and they’ll give everything to stop Barça from another title victory at Cornellà. This might be ugly to watch at times, but Hansi Flick’s Barça know how to win ugly and I trust them to finish the job: 2-1 to the good guys.