Three talking points ahead of Espanyol vs Barcelona | La Liga MD18 | OneFootball

The first game of 2026 is here for Barcelona, and they could not have asked for a more explosive start to the new year.

After all, the Blaugrana travel away to take on Espanyol on Saturday in what will be a high-intensity Catalan derby – one that will be a treat for the eyes.

Recent years have seen Barcelona take down Espanyol with relative ease, once sending them to relegation and then winning the league title on their grass. The competition this time, however, will be far tighter.

Espanyol are on a good run of form this season and hit the halfway mark in La Liga in fifth place on the standings. They have won ten of their 17 games, drawn three, and lost just four – and will be eager to take down their sworn rivals on Saturday night.

Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Espanyol vs Barcelona.

Hello 2026

While the world of football does not usually run on the concept of calendar years, Barcelona will fondly remember 2025 for a long time to come.

It is true that the 2024-25 season, as a whole, was a positive one for the Catalans as they made their presence known once again as a potent threat. They won the domestic treble and were within minutes of reaching the UEFA Champions League final.

A big part of those positives, however, came in 2025, and one remembers how 2024 ended with the team on a downward spiral.

Winning the Spanish Super Cup in January 2025 came as a massive boost to the team’s morale and belief, and the positive effect rippled into their performances in the league.

They soon got onto a great run of form in La Liga, capitalising on each of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid’s slip-ups to retake the lead in the standings – eventually culminating in them lifting the title.

Tomorrow’s game will be the team’s first in 2026, and the dressing room and management will hope for a similar boost to the season as they earned at this point last season.

It will be a chance to start afresh, play with better synergy, and put the hiccups of the beginning of the season behind. With the first trophy on the line soon, there is all the more motivation to start off on the right foot tomorrow.

The Joan Garcia factor

Joan Garcia returns to Espanyol this weekend. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

With Barcelona and Espanyol taking on each other tomorrow, one can expect the tensions to run high as always, especially given how the derby never disappoints on that front.

This time, however, the heat may well be turned up another notch, and Joan Garcia is the single-most responsible factor for the same.

The former Espanyol star will return to the RCDE stadium tomorrow for the first time since his controversial move to Barcelona in the summer, one that riled up the home supporters and understandably so.

Given the rivalry between the two sides, few players have crossed the border and switched faiths between the two Catalan sides in the past. To do so just after his career-best season, needless to say, was a brave move for Garcia.

The transfer has paid its dividends so far, both for Barcelona and the player himself, but tomorrow may get ugly with the Espanyol faithful undoubtedly set to hand him a hostile reception. 

Security will indeed run tight, but there is no doubt that all eyes will be on Joan Garcia and how the entire night plays out for him.

Pedri’s return

There are a few players in Hansi Flick’s side whose absence is immediately palpable in the team’s performance on the field. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha are two such ‘hearts’ of the system, and the third is Pedri Gonzalez.

The Canary Islander may, in fact, be Barcelona’s single most important player when one considers how severely the Catalans lose control of the game in his absence, something that has become very clear in the few games he has missed so far this season.

The 23-year-old was out for over a month after El Clasico, and made his return against Alaves in late November. He then, however, missed out on the team’s clash against Villarreal just before the Christmas break due to a setback.

While the Blaugrana did pull off the win over the Yellow Submarines, it was conspicuous throughout the game that Pedri’s playmaking, defensive contributions, and security on the ball were direly missed – something even Frenkie de Jong struggled to replicate.

Tomorrow, the player will return to the starting lineup after recovering from his blow, and Barcelona can hope to dictate play through the middle once more. The importance of his return cannot be understated.

What will also be interesting to follow is how the situation affects De Jong’s participation and whether the manager will hand the Dutchman a start or go back to the Pedri-Eric Garcia duo.