When is El Clasico? – Barcelona vs Real Madrid 2026/27 dates

El Clasico is the biggest fixture in world football, with meetings between Barcelona and Real Madrid the most-watched games on the Spanish football calendar. The clubs meet twice per season in La Liga, but usually more frequently than that, with regular clashes in cup competitions and sometimes pre-season fixtures.

Below, we’ll look at when El Clasico is next going to be played, the recent results between the clubs and all the scheduled and potential meetings in the 2026/27 campaign.

Attending the big match is possible, although often very expensive, with demand sure to be high. Anyone looking at getting tickets for El Clasico will need to pay attention to on-sale dates and be prepared to pay much more than for a regular La Liga fixture.

When is El Clasico going to be played in La Liga 2026/27?

El Clasico in Barcelona

The first meeting between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the 2026/27 season will be on the weekend of 24th/25th October 2026 in La Liga. It will take place at Camp Nou, which is still undergoing construction work.

That means the capacity is limited to just over 60,000 and will make it harder to get tickets than in previous years. By the 2027/28 campaign, the stadium should be able to hold 105,000, making it the largest football ground in Europe once more.

El Clasico in Madrid

One of the key dates on Real Madrid’s schedule for the 2026/27 season is the second weekend of May, when they will host Barcelona in El Clasico. There will only be three matchdays left in La Liga after the fixture, which means it could effectively be a title-decider.

Final dates and kick-off times for the two league meetings are usually confirmed around a month before the match. Check official La Liga or club channels for updates. Prior to that, we only know the weekends on which the fixture will take place. That’s an important point to understand for anyone planning to travel to Madrid or Barcelona for the big game and looking to book transport and accommodation around it.

The first Clasico in Barcelona takes place between Champions League matchdays. It’s therefore safe to assume it will be scheduled on a Saturday or a Sunday, with an afternoon or evening kick-off time possible. The second clash in Madrid is also likely to be at the weekend, but there is a small risk it could be moved to a Friday or Monday.

El Clasico results last season

The first Clasico with Xabi Alonso as Real Madrid boss produced three goals and no shortage of talking points. Los Blancos restored some pride after losing all four meetings and shipping 16 goals against Barca in the previous campaign.

However, Real Madrid’s bright new dawn under Alonso was over by January, with a 3-2 loss to Barcelona in the Spanish Supercopa proving to be his final game in charge. A brace from Raphinha was enough to settle an open encounter in Saudi Arabia, which has hosted the competition in recent years.

Barca went on to rub salt in their rivals’ wounds by winning La Liga with a 2-0 victory in El Clasico in May 2026. It was the first time in history that either club had sealed the league title in the fixture.

El Clasico dates – Confirmed and potential meetings in other competitions

• Supercopa – Potential meeting on 7th February 2027 in Istanbul.
• Copa del Rey – Potential meeting(s) between February and April 2027, depending on the draw and each club’s progress.
• Champions League – Potential meeting(s) between February and June 2027, depending on the draw and each club’s progress.

The most likely candidate for another Clasico during the 2026/27 season is the Spanish Supercopa, which will take place in Istanbul in the first week of February. The semi-final draw pits Barcelona against Atletico Madrid, while Real Madrid take on Real Sociedad.

If both clubs win those ties, they’ll meet at the Ataturk Olympic Stadium on Sunday 7th February with a trophy on the line. That would mark the fifth Supercopa Clasico final in a row.

The format and schedule for the 2026/27 Copa del Rey has not been officially announced, but it’s likely to be very similar to last year. Seeding rules may keep the clubs apart before the quarter-final stage again, but Barcelona and Real Madrid could meet later in that competition.

That could take the form of a single-legged quarter-final at either Camp Nou or the Santiago Bernabeu. If they meet in the semi-finals, it would take place over two legs in Barcelona and Madrid. The Copa del Rey final will take place in April in Seville.

Less likely, but not impossible, Barcelona and Real Madrid could also face each other in the Champions League. Los Blancos are the most successful club in the history of the competition, but they haven’t met their eternal rivals in it since the 2010/11 semi-finals.

The clubs will be kept apart in the league phase, but there is no country protection in the draw after that. Theoretically, they could meet as early as the knockout phase play-offs in February, although both sides will be hoping to avoid that round altogether by advancing directly to the round of 16.

Mark Sochon is an experienced football writer and has been the editor of LaLigaExpert.com since 2018. Based in Madrid, he has been covering La Liga and Spanish football for more than a decade. Aside from writing most of the content here, he also covers La Liga and European competitions for Goal and Betfred, while his work has previously been published by the likes of the Guardian and World Soccer.

During his time in Spain, he has travelled up and down the country, attending matches in virtually every top-flight stadium. His areas of expertise include data-led match predictions and probability analysis, as well as Spanish football team news, with La Liga predicted lineups researched and published each week. | Follow Mark Sochon on X