A Real Madrid and Barcelona rivalry that NBA Europe could change: Basketball's El Clásico

Madrid – On Sunday night, when Real Madrid and Barcelona step onto the hardwood of the Movistar Arena for the final time in this Liga ACB regular season, they will write the 348th chapter of a feud that began in 1942. The ledger reads 173-172 for Barcelona, a one-game margin that illustrates how microscopic the difference has been between Spain’s superpowers for more than eight decades. Yet the result will carry an extra layer of intrigue: by late 2027 the NBA plans to launch NBA Europe, and both clubs have been identified as cornerstone franchises. Where, how and how often they meet after that remains an open question.

The basketball Clásico has always lived in the shadow of its footballing older brother, but inside Spain the tension is no less real. “It’s not the same for us to play against any other Spanish team,” Andrés Jiménez, whose No. 4 jersey hangs from the Palau Blaugrana rafters after 13 seasons and seven titles with Barcelona, told The Athletic. “Soccer supporters wanted their team to win. That’s why it is very important. It is more than the basketball environment.”

Sunday’s contest will be the fourth meeting of the current campaign, but the schedule can stretch the rivalry to as many as 16 games if both sides reach the finals of Liga ACB, EuroLeague, Copa del Rey and Supercopa. Madrid have dominated the recent head-to-head, winning nine of the last ten Clásicos and sitting third in the EuroLeague standings behind a defence anchored by 7-foot-3 shot-blocking record-setter Edy Tavares. Barcelona, twice European champions, occupy the last playoff slot in tenth.

Domestically, Pablo Laso’s defending champions enter the weekend five wins clear of third-placed Barcelona and four ahead of Valencia at the top of the ACB. Mario Hezonja paces the capital club at 16 points per night, while Barcelona counter with a roster that includes three former Madrid players—transfers that rarely incite the kind of virulent backlash familiar to football fans. “You can see that before and after the match, at least in Madrid city, where fans of both teams share the same spaces and bars with no incidents,” said Felipe Sanchez of Los Ojos del Tigre, Madrid’s largest supporters’ group.

The prospect of sharing an NBA-branded competition could alter that dynamic. League officials convened with club delegations in London in January to outline a competition that would tip off in 2027-28. Barcelona, which recently extended its EuroLeague membership for ten seasons, can exit for a reported $11.6 million buy-out. “If the NBA is so fantastic, possibly they will work to solve this issue because they want Barca in their competition,” president Joan Laporta told RAC1. Madrid, whose Movistar Arena lease is controlled by the regional government, would need to secure a dedicated NBA-standard venue.

Both institutions offer the league an immediate global footprint. Madrid claim 11 EuroLeague trophies and 38 domestic titles; Barcelona own two EuroLeagues and 20 Spanish crowns. Each academy has produced NBA talent—Fernando Martín in 1984, Pau and Marc Gasol, and most recently Hugo González, selected 28th by Boston in June from Madrid’s youth ranks. The NBA hopes that embedding such historic brands in a new continental structure will export Spanish basketball’s team-first ethos to a wider audience.

For now, the focus is on Sunday. Another Madrid win would edge them ahead in the all-time series and tighten their grip on the top seed entering the ACB playoffs. A Barcelona victory would rekindle memories of Jiménez’s 1997 title clincher in Madrid’s own building, when Barcelona’s 82-69 triumph spoiled a celebration planned for Cibeles Square. “We took the title back to Barcelona,” Jiménez recalled.

Whether that drama is replicated in Liga ACB, EuroLeague or an eventual NBA Europe fixture, the essence of the rivalry remains unchanged. “When you play one of these games, adrenaline is at the top,” Jiménez said. Tip-off is scheduled for 18:30 local time, but in a sense the clock is already ticking toward 2027, when basketball’s El Clásico may find itself reborn on an even larger stage.