El Clasico on Sunday: Barcelona Face Real Madrid at Camp Nou, All Eyes on Mourinho's Return

Barcelona and Real Madrid meet in La Liga's El Clasico on Sunday night. The match at Camp Nou kicks off at 9pm (20:00 GMT). With league leaders Barcelona facing third-placed Real, the eyes of the football world are now on Barcelona.

For weeks, league leaders Barcelona have seen this match as a chance to stretch their gap over Real. A Real win would halve the gap and give the side a major confidence boost. Barcelona are unbeaten in the league, with nine wins from nine matches at the top of the table.

But Barcelona's build-up to the Clasico has hit some turbulence. Hansi Flick's Spanish champions suffered their first defeat of the season on Tuesday, losing 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League. Barca will want to learn from that defeat going into the Clasico.

The picture is the reverse for Real Madrid. They have won four matches in a row, thrashing RB Leipzig on Wednesday. Since Jose Mourinho's return this summer, the side has started to look, for the first time, like a real team.

The most attention of all will be on Mourinho's return to the fixture. The 63-year-old Portuguese coach has been in the dugout for 27 matches against Barcelona, including 17 El Clasicos as Real coach. Real president Florentino Perez first appointed Mourinho in 2010 to compete with Pep Guardiola's Barcelona, and he will hope the Portuguese can bring the La Liga title back to the Bernabeu for a second time.

Mourinho's first spell at Real coincided with arguably the most heated encounters in the modern history of El Clasico. He won just once in his first 10 El Clasicos but went unbeaten in his final five games against Barcelona, recording three victories. Real have lost six of the last seven Clasicos, so a win in this match matters especially much to them.

Mourinho himself has acknowledged that his team is still in the early stages of being built. He said people look at them like a finished product, but finished products in football are difficult because they are never finished. He said he has been working for only three months, and excluding pre-season and the international break, the team has been together for a month and a half to two months.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has paid Mourinho the highest respect. He said managing teams at this level for so many years and always having success is about quality. Flick added that every player from the German national team who worked under Mourinho speaks of him with great respect.

Flick acknowledged that the defeat to PSG showed his team some areas to improve. He said they analysed the game, did many things really well, but saw some situations where they have to improve. Playing against one of the best teams in the world is a good opportunity to grow as a team, he believes.

Flick said El Clasico is different. It is the best match in their sport, and everyone will watch it. He reminded everyone that although it is just three points at stake, its importance goes far beyond that.

Mourinho struck the same note, saying that in El Clasico what happened before has no influence. It is unique, and normally the football world stops to watch it. He hoped it would be a great game and that his team would win.

Flick's Barca have won back-to-back La Liga titles, while Mourinho arrived this summer at a Real side that went two seasons without a major trophy. Sunday's result will therefore send a message not just about three points, but about the direction of the title race.