The latest incarnation of ‘El Clasico’, the famous rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona, takes centre stage in Round 26 of the 2018/19 La Liga season as the Spanish top flight will air live on DStv, Gotv this weekend.

The 240th competitive match between Real and Barca is set to be a key factor in the La Liga title race this season: a win for Los Blancos will bring them back into the battle for Spain’s top honour, while the Blaugrana will feel that a victory at the Santiago Bernabeu will remove one of their last major hurdles on the path to glory.

Both teams enjoyed victories in the previous round of La Liga: Real claimed a controversial 2-1 away win away to Leganes (thanks to two penalties), while Lionel Messi was in ominous form for Barca as they won 4-2 away to Sevilla. The Argentine master netted a hat-trick at the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan to move further clear at the top of the Spanish top-flight scoring charts.

Barcelona will go into the match with an air of superiority after handing Real Madrid a 3-0 win in the Copa de Rey mid week.

Second-placed Atletico Madrid will be hoping their derby rivals can beat Barca at home on Saturday night, which would then give them the chance to close the gap at the top to just four points with a win away to Real Sociedad at Estadio Municipal de Anoeta on Sunday.

Atletico continued their good form with a 2-0 home win over Villarreal this past weekend (featuring goals from Alvaro Morata, his first since joining on loan from Chelsea, and Saul) and Diego Simeone will be highly motivated should the chance to put pressure on leaders Barcelona arise.

Elsewhere in Spain, DStv and GOtv viewers can also look forward to Valencia hosting Athletic Bilbao at Estadio Mestalla on Sunday night. Both teams are in good form (Los Che are unbeaten in nine matches across all competitions ahead of a Copa del Rey match on Thursday, while Bilbao racked up a second successive win when they beat Eibar 1-0 this past weekend) and chasing a place in next season’s UEFA Europa League.