El Clásico blasts off the title race in La Liga
Dan Hilton of The Barcelona Podcast joins up to talk Mbappé and Yamal, Bellingham and Rashford, plus Barça's controversial (canceled) match in Miami.
There’s a big game down in Italy on Saturday, but there’s only one headliner for this weekend. It’s El Clásico, Real Madrid vs FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabéu, the biggest game in club football outside the late stages of the Champions League.
This one is box office each and every time, even if we’ve descended somewhat from the interstellar days of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. We’ll make do with Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Jude Bellingham, and whoever wins out here will take pole position in the Spanish title race. With Atlético Madrid fading somewhat, this is a campaign that could well end with both these teams taking 90+ points — or, as this week’s guest suggests, perhaps they both have more weaknesses than you might think.
Here to help us get our bearings ahead of kickoff on Sunday (11:15am ET / 3:15pm UK) is Dan Hilton of The Barcelona Podcast:
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A few more matches worth your time this weekend…
INTER MIAMI vs NASHVILLE SC
Fri @ 8pm ET
It’s time for Lionel Messi and his traveling troupe of La Liga legends to kick off the MLS playoffs. The Herons of Inter Miami are at home for the first of this three-game set against “The Boys in Gold.” Yes, I googled this.
Nashville finished sixth in the Eastern Conference after they caught a 5-2 hiding from this same opposition on the final matchday of the regular season, but they do have the league’s joint-second-top scorer in Englishman Sam Surridge. The Slough-born striker started his career at Bournemouth and scored 24 in 34 matches this season — five fewer than some guy from Argentina.
CHELSEA vs SUNDERLAND
Sat @ 10am ET, 3pm UK
These two teams are even on 14 points after eight matches, not something you’d likely have predicted in August. Sunderland are making a real fist of it in this Premier League, but they haven’t faced too many top sides so far.
Chelsea want to be one of those, and they will be strong favorites at Stamford Bridge. But you just sense that Enzo Maresca’s side still have something to prove, even after that big win over Liverpool heading into the international break.
NAPOLI vs INTER
Sat @ 12 pm ET, 5pm UK
This is a true title clash in Serie A, first against second last season.
Napoli followed up their Scudetto triumph with a busy summer transfer window and are looking to shore up their position as the greatest team on The Boot. Inter have yet to truly click into form after the massive disappointment that was their spring season, when they went from treble-seekers to empty-handed in no time.
The blue-and-blacks still find themselves second in the league, though. Napoli are third, because they’re both behind a resurgent AC Milan.
VALENCIA vs VILLAREAL
Sat @ 3pm ET, 8pm UK
It’s the Derbi de la Comunitat, the big beef in this beautiful bit of country on the Mediterranean coast. These two were pretty friendly until 1997, when billionaire ceramics-slash-supermarket magnate Fernando Roig was spurned in his attempt to take charge of Valencia. So, he went 35 miles down the road and bought a small, largely unspectacular club called Villareal.
Now the Yellow Submarine has upstaged the Murciélagos of Valencia, playing Champions League football while the latter toil in La Liga’s bottom half. But on any given derby day…
ASTON VILLA vs MAN CITY
Sun @ 10am ET, 2pm UK
Kickoff times here are tricky, as the U.K. ditches daylight savings earlier in the fall than the United States does. This one’s intriguing because City haven’t gone to Villa Park and taken three points since 2021. In fact, Pep Guardiola has lost his last two bouts with Unai Emery in Birmingham.
The Sky Blues will need to get over that hump if they want to restate their credentials as title challengers after last year’s poor campaign. With Liverpool struggling, they’ve scooted up to second in the table behind Arsenal. Villa, meanwhile, had left their terrible start to 2025/26 behind with five straight wins in all competitions before Thursday’s shock Europa League defeat to Go Ahead Eagles.