La Liga clash between Espanyol vs Barcelona in January declared ‘high-risk’ | OneFootball

Barcelona will kick off 2026 with a game worthy of headlining the start of the new year – the Catalan derby.

Games between Barcelona and Espanyol have been highly heated in recent years, with one very vivid memory being that of the Blaugrana winning La Liga at the RCDE Stadium and the entry of fans onto the field to stop celebrations.

A similar situation also unfolded last year, and one also remembers how a woman ran over a crowd of Espanyol fans in the last derby played at Cornella.

A high-risk game

As relayed by SPORT in a recent report, the game between Barcelona and Espanyol scheduled for January 3rd has been labelled a high-risk game by the Permanent Commission of the State Commission against Violence, Racism, Xenophobia and Intolerance in Sport.

One particular factor that aggravates the potential of unrest on the night is the transfer of Joan Garcia to Barcelona in the summer and how Espanyol were fuming with the goalkeeper’s decision to sign for their arch-rivals.

Joan Garcia will face Espanyol next month. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

He will return to the field, likely as a starter, against Espanyol on the night and it is clear that there is a need for very stringent security.

Espanyol will be required to reinforce security in certain areas of the field on the night and there will also be additional security measures in the ticket sales system, including exhaustive access control.

Further, there is expected to be a ban on carrying the Barcelona logo or crest into the RCDE Stadium on the night to prevent any unrest.

The Blaugrana, for their part, will be looking to take all three points at the venue to continue their flying form in the league. It will, however, be anything but easy given that Espanyol have also enjoyed a fine start to their season.