Joan García has pushed back against any talk of Sunday’s Barcelona Vs Real Madrid clash being a title decider, saying October is too early for that kind of verdict. The Barcelona goalkeeper made the point at a media open day before the Clásico, as his team prepared to face Real Madrid after a recent setback against Paris Saint-Germain.
Barcelona go into the game six points ahead of Real Madrid, a position that has sharpened interest in the match but not, García said, turned it into a championship showdown. He said Barcelona were ready and in good spirits, adding that the team had already moved on from Paris Saint-Germain and could draw lessons from that defeat.
“Estamos bien y con ganas del partido del domingo,” García said. He added that Barcelona wanted to win in Paris, that the game had been difficult, and that the benefit of playing every three days was the ability to refocus quickly on the next match. He also praised Barcelona’s “espíritu competitivo” and said they could take “conclusiones positivas del partido para aprender y corregir los errores.”
That confidence has some backing. Barcelona beat Real Madrid 3-2 in the final of last season’s Supercopa de España, then won the last league meeting 2-0 in a result that decided the LaLiga title in Barcelona’s favor. García said he had never lost against Real Madrid before, and that the upcoming match would be his third against them in a Barcelona shirt.
Even so, he was careful not to inflate the stakes beyond what October can support. “Los títulos no se deciden en octubre, y sería un error pensar que ya tenemos las cosas resueltas; respetamos a nuestro rival y aspiramos a hacer un gran partido y ganar el Clásico en nuestro estadio,” he said. For him, the test is real but still part of a long season, not its conclusion.
García also framed the game as a team contest rather than a series of star showdowns. He called Thibaut Courtois “uno de los mejores porteros del mundo” and said the match would be Barcelona against Madrid, not individual duels. Real Madrid, he said, could still do damage in attack with Kylian Mbappé, Yan Diomande, Arda Güler and Jude Bellingham.
Barcelona’s numbers help explain why the Clásico has drawn so much attention. García said the team had only one defeat in 12 official matches and remained perfect in the league, a record that has kept the pressure on Real Madrid even before the first whistle. The gap may be six points, but the goalkeeper’s message was plain: Sunday matters, just not in the way October headlines often try to make it sound.
