The biggest football fixture in the world, meetings between Real Madrid and Barcelona are screened to an estimated audience of more than 600 million worldwide. However, just a tiny fraction of that number will ever attend the fixture in person, and tick off a game that is right at the top of many a football bucket list.
Here’s a guide to getting tickets for El Clasico, with all you need to know about potentially catching a match between LaLiga’s two eternal rivals in the 2024/25 season.
When will Real Madrid play Barcelona in the 2024/25 season?
- Weekend of October 26th/27th 2024 – Real Madrid vs Barcelona
- Weekend of May 10th/11th 2025 – Barcelona vs Real Madrid
As always, El Clasico will take place twice in LaLiga during the 2024/25 season. The first meeting will be at the Santiago Bernabeu in Madrid on the weekend of October 26th/27th.
The second will take place in Barcelona in May 2025. While Barca are currently playing at the Estadi Olimpic, they are expecting to be back at Camp Nou by then, meaning the fixture should take place at their traditional home which is currently being renovated.
The clubs have already met in a non-competitive setting, with Barcelona beating Real Madrid 2-1 in a pre-season fixture at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey in August. There is also the potential for the clubs to meet in other competitions during the 2024/25 campaign.
The most likely of those is the Spanish Supercopa which will again take place in Saudi Arabia. Should Real Madrid beat Mallorca and Barcelona beat Athletic Club in the semi-finals, the two will meet on January 12th 2025 in Riyadh to battle it out for silverware in the Middle East.
It’s also possible that the clubs could be drawn together in the Copa del Rey, at some point between January 2025 and April 2025. The clubs last met in that competition in the two-legged semi-finals in the 2022/23 season and tickets are usually easier to secure for cup meetings, which usually take place in midweek. Anyone based abroad would need to plan their trip at relatively short notice though, as matches can take place within a week of the draw being made in earlier rounds.
In addition, there is also a small chance of Real Madrid and Barcelona facing off in the UEFA Champions League, with clubs from the same country not kept apart in the latter stages of that competition. There hasn’t been a UCL Clasico since the 2010/11 season though.
Does El Clasico sell out?
It goes without saying that demand for LaLiga tickets is high whenever Real Madrid and Barcelona meet. However not every Clasico is a total sell out, with various factors including the timing of the game, ticket pricing and in recent years the status of renovation work at both club’s stadiums, having an impact.
Here were the attendances for El Clasico in the last five years in LaLiga:
| LaLiga season | Attendance in Madrid | Attendance in Barcelona |
| 2023/24 | 77,981 | 50,112* |
| 2022/23 | 62,876 | 95,745 |
| 2021/22 | 60,017 | 86,422 |
| 2020/21 | – | – |
| 2019/20 | 78,237 | 93,426 |
*Match played at the Estadi Olimpic, which has a much smaller capacity than Camp Nou.
The last few years have represented something of a mixed picture with the 2019/20 season the last that might be considered “normal”. The outbreak of Covid-19 followed which meant LaLiga 2020/21 was played behind closed doors and then came extensive redevelopment work at the stadiums of both clubs which has limited capacities.
That being said, it has still been possible to buy tickets for some of the meetings over the past five years, however it’s by no means easy or cheap.
Getting reasonably priced tickets for El Clasico in the 2024/25 season is expected to be very challenging though. Demand for Real Madrid tickets in general over the past year has been extremely high, with the arrival of Kylian Mbappe only increasing the interest in catching the European champions at the Bernabeu.
Barcelona tickets at the Estadi Olimpic have been much easier to come by, with even some bigger fixtures attracting relatively low crowds with less than 35,000 in attendance for their match against Atletico Madrid last season for example.
However, they are expecting to be back at Camp Nou by the time Real Madrid visit in May 2025. The stadium will ultimately have a capacity of 104,000 making it the largest in Europe. Ongoing renovation will initially see that capped to 64,000 though, most likely meaning it will be very difficult for non-members to secure tickets for El Clasico via the normal channels.
How to get tickets for El Clasico in Madrid
El Clasico tickets at the Bernabeu will be sold on the Real Madrid website.
VIP tickets go on sale earlier and are advertised at a starting rate of an eye-watering €850, but there does not appear to be any availability at the time of writing.
Ordinary match tickets for El Clasico in Madrid will most likely only go on sale via the club around a week before the game. Pricing details have not been released for the fixture yet, but it seems safe to assume that even the very cheapest tickets for El Clasico at the Bernabeu will be over €100. There’s also a high probability that tickets will sell out before they go on general sale, with Real Madrid members getting priority access.
You can increase your chances with a Madridista premium card (€35/year) which usually grants holders access to tickets a day before the general public, but even that is by no means a guarantee of a ticket for El Clasico.
If early season demand is anything to go by, anyone wanting to secure a ticket for the big game, will probably need to try other means. Ticket resale websites will most likely have options at inflated prices, but purchases are made at your own risk.
An alternative option is to book an El Clasico weekend break via sportsbreaks.com, an official supplier of Real Madrid and Barcelona tickets.
They don’t come cheap, starting at €1,416.88 per person for the Bernabeu clash in late October 2024, but that also covers two nights in a hotel, a guaranteed category 3 match ticket and a one-way shuttle service to the stadium. These can be booked now and may be a good option if money is not really an object, and you just want the peace of mind of securing an advanced ticket.
How to get tickets for El Clasico in Barcelona
Tickets for El Clasico in Barcelona are likely to go on sale at some point in early 2025. You can subscribe to email updates for the fixture via the club’s website which will ensure you’re notified about on-sale dates.
The good news is that makes it easier to plan trips in advance than is the case with Real Madrid home matches given their late release of tickets. The bad news is that LaLiga doesn’t release confirmed dates and kick-off times for matches until around a month before kick-off, and sometimes even less.
If you’re lucky enough to secure an advanced ticket for the game by any means, be aware that the meeting in May in Barcelona, could in theory take place at any point between Friday May 9th and Monday May 12th, although it’s highly likely to be staged on the Saturday or Sunday. Bear that in mind when booking flights and accommodation!
As mentioned previously, the fixture is expected to be played at Camp Nou, but the stadium is not likely to be operating at full capacity by then. Demand for the fixture is therefore likely to be massively in excess of supply, particularly if the two clubs are involved in a close title race.
We’ll be on matchday 35 by then, which is quite late for El Clasico to take place. Should only a few points separate the teams, it could be billed as a virtual title decider which would be exciting, but may make it virtually impossible to secure tickets via the club with members getting priority.
Should the title race be over, or as good as over, as has been the case in the last two seasons by that point, Barcelona members may be much more likely to release their tickets. That could mean more are made available nearer the time, although it’s still likely to be challenging given the reduced capacity.
The average ticket price for El Clasico in Barcelona is also likely to be well in excess of 100 Euros, although the club have not released pricing details yet for matches that are expected to take place back at Camp Nou.
As with the Madrid meeting, tickets will inevitably also find their way onto resale websites at vastly inflated prices. Book at your own risk.
You can also guarantee a ticket for El Clasico in Barcelona in May 2025 by booking a hotel and Clasico ticket break via sportsbreaks.com. These start at €1,037.90 per person and include two nights in a hotel and an official category 2 match ticket with optional upgrades for the best seats and tours. These can be booked now.
El Clasico tickets 2024/25 – Final thoughts
Regular match tickets for El Clasico in 2024 or 2025 are likely to be very difficult to get your hands on, whether you want to attend the game in Madrid or Barcelona.
Work on the new Camp Nou is unlikely to be complete until the 2026/27 season, so also from a point of view of the overall experience, you may prefer to put on hold plans to catch Barcelona vs Real Madrid in the Catalan capital until the renovation work is complete and the stadium is capable of accommodating more than 100,000 fans, as opposed to under 65,000 in a half-built arena.
As for the league game in Madrid, the experience should be a special one with the freshly renovated Bernabeu full and an all-conquering Real Madrid side with Mbappe on board, up against Hansi Flick’s Barca who have started the campaign brightly.
In truth, your options for securing a ticket through the clubs for either league game in the 2024/25 season are likely to be very limited if you’re not willing to pay 100’s of Euros via some of the alternative means outlined previously.
Small batches of regular match tickets are sometimes released to general sale in the days building up to kick off for LaLiga games, for example if season ticket holders release their seats. However, not many do that for the bigger games and you may need to regularly check the home team’s website and strike it lucky to get your hands on any of those for El Clasico.
In short, don’t count on that approach working, but it might be worth trying your luck as a very last resort if you’re in either Madrid or Barcelona on Clasico weekend and don’t have a match ticket.
