Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick is confident his side have enough quality to beat their high-flying rivals Espanyol in LaLiga on Saturday.
La Blaugrana lead the way in the Spanish top flight, sitting four points clear of second-place Real Madrid, but Espanyol are in a strong vein of form themselves.
Manolo Gonzalez’s side have won each of their last five league matches, with that streak seeing them move up to fifth in the standings.
Barca, meanwhile, have won each of their last seven matches in all competitions since a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in the Champions League in November.
Flick’s confidence was boosted as he confirmed that both Lamine Yamal and Dani Olmo are fit for this weekend’s derby, though the German coach praised his counterpart ahead of the fiery fixture.
“I’d like to congratulate Manolo,” said Flick. “He’s doing an incredible job.
Last training session before the derby pic.twitter.com/LIt6wTGU2z
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 2, 2026
“It’s a team that presses very well and makes excellent transitions. They’ve won five games in a row.
“We’ll have to play at our highest level, stay calm and play our best football. We have enough quality to take the win.
“We have to keep training with intensity, commitment and focus. We have a lot of potential, but also room to keep developing it.
“But if I had to ask for one new year wish, it would be to avoid injuries.”
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Espanyol – Pere Milla
Milla has scored six goals in 15 LaLiga appearances for Espanyol in 2025-26, twice as many as he managed across the entirety of last season (three goals in 20 games).
The 33-year-old also scored the winner against Athletic Club last time out to extend Espanyol’s winning run to five games.
Barcelona – Ferran Torres
Torres was the Spanish player with the most goal involvements in LaLiga during 2025 (23 – 18 goals, five assists), and is enjoying his most prolific campaign in the competition (11 goals in 17 matches).
Only Kylian Mbappe (18) has scored more goals in LaLiga this season.
MATCH PREDICTION – BARCELONA WIN
Barca are unbeaten in their last 16 away LaLiga games against Espanyol (W9 D7), since a 3-1 defeat in January 2007 at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, which they themselves used as a temporary home ground while Camp Nou was being renovated.
This run is only surpassed by a run against Villarreal (17 games – W13 D4) as Barcelona’s longest away unbeaten streak against a single opponent in the competition’s history.
Barca have also won 104 of their 178 LaLiga derbies against Espanyol (D40 L34); only Real Madrid have recorded more victories against a single opponent in the competition’s history, also against Espanyol (179 games – W109 D33 L37).
Espanyol have won each of their last five games in LaLiga and have not registered six or more consecutive wins in the competition since June 1999, under manager Miguel Angel Brindisi (W6).
However, they have not won any of their last 28 LaLiga games against Barcelona (D7 L21).
Only two teams have gone 29 or more consecutive matches without a win against the same opponent in the competition’s history: Real Sociedad against Madrid between 1957 and 1979 (34 games – D11 L23) and Hercules also against Madrid between 1940 and 1984 (29 games – D5 L24).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Espanyol – 18.7%
Draw – 21.0%
Barcelona – 60.3%
