8 mins: Another lightning passing move has Real Madrid looking stretched, before Bellingham carries it clear and is brought down.

Form guide: Barcelona are seeking their 10th straight win to start the league season, which would eclipse Real Madrid’s record from 1968. Hansi Flick’s side are on a 23-game home winning run in La Liga, but did suffer defeat to PSG in the Champions League in midweek.

As for Real Madrid, they thumped Leipzig 4-1 at the Bernabéu but their problems in La Liga have come on the road, with defeats to Atlético and Betis. The clubs’ recent head-to-head record is very much in favour of Barça: they’ve won six of the last seven meetings.

Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan García; João Cancelo, Pau Cubarsí, Gerard Martín, Xavi Espart; Rodri, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Fermín López, Gordon; Raphinha.

Subs: Szczesny, Livakovic, Balde, Fariñas, Gavi, De Jong, Bernal, Adeyemi, Abdelkarim, Campos, Goren.

Real Madrid (4-2-3-1): Lunin; Valverde (c), Konaté, Huijsen, Cucurella; Tchouameni, Bernardo Silva; Diomande, Bellingham, Arda Güler; Mbappé.

Subs: Mestre, Illia, Militão, Camavinga, Endrick, Alexander-Arnold, Carreras, Espí, Brahim Díaz, Rüdiger, Dumfries, Thiago.

Tonight’s game also takes place against a weekend of unrest in Barcelona. There were 128 arrests overnight for acts of “vandalism, damage to public property and looting” in the city centre, according to the regional Catalan police.

The match is still going ahead, with an increased security presence already in place after the game was deemed “high-risk” by police last week. Back in 2019, this fixture was postponed due to protests in Barcelona.

Is the clásico making a comeback? A bitter rivalry that has raged for more than a century, Barcelona v Real Madrid may have been the world’s biggest sporting fixture during the era of Ronaldo and Messi, Mourinho and Guardiola. Incredibly skilful players dragged into extraordinarily spiteful on-pitch battles, each game felt like a heavyweight title fight.

These two teams remain the dominant forces in Spain, and their mutual hatred of one another is still very much intact. Still, the clásico has lost some of its intensity in recent years – but there are signs it may be coming back. Chief among those signs is Mourinho’s dramatic return to Real Madrid, where he is rebuilding the media war that wore both coaches out at the end of the rivalry’s unmissable age.

There is also, crucially, a touch of jeopardy about tonight’s game, particularly for the visitors. Hansi Flick’s Barcelona have started the league season with nine straight wins and are six points ahead of Madrid; that gap could be nine points, or three points, after tonight’s events at Camp Nou. The outcome may depend on Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé, two exceptional players poised to dominate this derby for the next decade.

In short, the biggest game in world football is back. Kick-off is at 8pm GMT, 9pm local time, so get comfortable.