Barcelona will host Real Madrid at Camp Nou on Sunday with El Clásico carrying a distinct route from São Paulo into Catalonia. Gabriel Jesus, now Barcelona’s No. 9, and Real Madrid forward Endrick came through Palmeiras’ academy in different eras; this weekend, they meet on opposite sides of Spain’s defining club rivalry.
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Barcelona arrive at the tenth round of the Spanish season with a perfect record: 27 points from nine matches. Real Madrid are third on 21 points, travelling north with the chance to cut the gap at the summit while the Catalan leaders seek to stretch it further.
For Gabriel Jesus, the match continues a bright first chapter in Barcelona. Signed for the 2026/27 campaign, the Brazilian has registered four goals and one assist in his first seven appearances for the club.
His journey to Europe began with Palmeiras’ 2015 Copa do Brasil success and their 2016 Brazilian league title. Manchester City paid €32.7 million for him in 2016, beginning a decade-long European career that has also included Arsenal. He has won five Premier League titles—four with City and one at Arsenal—and stands among Brazil’s leading scorers in both the English top flight and Champions League history.
Jesus has scored 27 Champions League goals, level with Rivaldo as the fourth-highest Brazilian scorer in the competition. He sees the Palmeiras production line as evidence of an academy that has maintained its standards across the years.
“It is special to see so many Palmeiras academy players around Europe,” Jesus said. “Perhaps my move to City started part of that path, and now there are Endrick, Estevão, Allan, Vitor Reis, Luis Guilherme, Kevin and Danilo, who has gone abroad and returned. I will complete 10 years in Europe, and the work is still producing players. It shows how strongly Palmeiras have continued their project.”
Endrick followed that route in 2024, joining Real Madrid in a deal worth €35 million upfront, with a further €25 million available in bonuses. Before leaving Brazil, he scored 161 goals in 188 academy matches, including unofficial fixtures, and became the first Palmeiras player to win trophies at every youth level as well as with the senior team.
With Palmeiras’ first team, Endrick made 82 appearances, scoring 21 times and creating three goals. His honours included the 2022 and 2023 Brazilian championships, the 2023 Supercopa do Brasil, and the São Paulo state titles of 2023 and 2024.
In his first Madrid season, 2024/25, he scored seven goals, five of them in the Copa del Rey. That return placed him among the tournament’s leading scorers and made him Madrid’s first player to reach five goals in one edition since Cristiano Ronaldo in 2012/13. He has already found the net in this season’s Champions League and is seeking a larger role under José Mourinho.
Thiago Freitas of Roc Nation Sports in Brazil, which manages Endrick’s career, compared Palmeiras’ recent crop—particularly those born in 2006—to Brazil’s celebrated 1992 generation, which brought Neymar, Philippe Coutinho, Alisson and Casemiro together in the national under-20 side.
“Palmeiras have identified and developed several outstanding players from another exceptional generation,” Freitas said. “Many have already reached leading clubs and leagues around the world. It is a remarkable moment.”
Sunday at Camp Nou
Kick-off is scheduled for 17:00 Brasília time. Gabriel Jesus will look to extend his early Barcelona momentum, while Endrick has a possible opening in Madrid’s attack after Vinícius Júnior was suspended. For both former Palmeiras forwards, the occasion offers more than the usual points at stake in a title race: it is another measure of how far their shared academy has reached.
