On the past Tuesday, July 1st, RFEF gathered the league calendar for the 2025/26 season. As it is known, Barça will play the first match of the championship against Mallorca at the Son Mix stadium. But how many times have they faced each other on the first day of the league?
First debut at Son Mix
This season will be the second time in history that Barça and Mallorca face each other on the first day of the championship. Previously, Culés and Balears played on the first day of the 1965/66 season. Unlike this year, the Catalans played at home and defeated Mallorca 3-1.
The sixth league final against Valencia
Aside from the start of the league, the last match of the season is also noteworthy. This year, Barça will visit Mestalla to play against Valencia. It will be the second time that the two teams play in Valencia on the last day. The previous occasion was in the 1934/35 season when the two teams drew 1-1. However, Culers and Valenciens closed the league on four other occasions, all at the Spotify Camp Nou. One of the highlights was in 2001 when Rivaldo scored a decisive goal against the Chileans, securing qualification for the next edition of the Champions League.
Classics, on ordinary days
Some data that should be highlighted on the calendar are the classics against Madrid and the Derby against Espanyol. Regarding the classic, in recent years, the match in the first round is usually played on the last weekend of October. This season, Culers and Merengues will play on October 25th or 26th. Looking at the history of classics played on October 25th, there are three matches: all Madrid derbies with an even balance of two victories for the white team (1953 and 2014) and one for the Catalans (1970). For October 26th, there are three precedents: 1958, 2013, and 2024. All ended in victory for Barça, twice with a 4-0 win and 0-4 in the last visit.
Two matchups in May
The second classic tournament will be on the weekend of May 9th and 10th. Reviewing the previous ones, there was a clash between the two teams on May 9th and another on May 10th. These were in 1929, the first season of the league, and 1997, respectively. In both cases, the result was 1-0, with Madrid winning the first duel and Barça the second, both as the home team.
A derby to start the year
The year 2026 will begin with a highlight for Barça: the Derby against Espanyol. A duel that has already been the first match of the year for Barça and has been played three times in recent years: 2013, 2016, and 2020. Out of the five matches, Barça has not lost in any of them, with three wins and two draws.
An interesting fact was found in 2016. It was a year when, besides being the first match of the year, Culers and Enogos also faced each other in the eighth round of the Cup and ended up playing three matches in the first 13 days of the year, including the league match and the two Cup matches.