Story byWhy Barcelona captain can be Hansi Flick’s X-factor against Real MadridBarca UniversalSun, January 11, 2026 at 8:52 AM UTC·2 min readBarcelona head into tonight’s El Clasico with vastly different circumstances from their meeting with Real Madrid earlier in the season. When the two teams met in La Liga in October, Barcelona were crippled with injuries across the field. Joan Garcia, Robert Lewandowski, Dani Olmo, and Raphinha were all absent on the night due to fitness setbacks. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFerran Torres and Lamine Yamal too did not enter the game at their 100% and were both far from their peak fitness at the time. An X-FactorEl Clasico is Raphinha’s stage to shine. (Photo by Alex Caparros/)Of all of the aforementioned players who will be available later today, Raphinha stands out as the candidate who can make all the difference for Barcelona.