The 'El Clasico' is one of the biggest games in club football, if not the biggest, and Jose Mourinho and Cristiano Ronaldo cannot wait to continue Real Madrid's good recent form against Barcelona, who have been perfect this season.
Yet to drop a single point in the La Liga, Barcelona sit eight points ahead of Real, and Mourinho knows nothing but a win will do at the Nou Camp, although he does savor the atmosphere created in an El Clasico.
"When Madrid plays Barcelona, the world stops," he told Bein Sport. "It is a game we love to play and it is not just us, but, surely for them also. In this sense, it is definitely more than a normal league match.
"But our goal is to win the championship. It is just three points in the end."
Real might have won the Spanish league last season, but Mourinho believes the fact that they are defending the title has played a big part in their inconsistent start in the league this year.
"The fundamental difference is this team last season were not champions," he said. "This season they and in my opinion, the team has started the season this way because of the prestige of being the defending champions."
Real have always targeted the Champions League, with some even suggesting winning Europe's premier competition might be a bigger priority to winning the league this campaign. Real have won their first two group games in the Champions League so far - the first one a brilliant come-from-behind victory against Manchester City and the second a comfortable 4-1 win over Ajax.
Asked about his team's prospects of going all the way, Mourinho said: "The Champions League? It depends, it is a competition where the difference between winning and losing is very small," he said.
"I do not believe that anybody thought that Chelsea last season would have won it. But, they did and I was happy because I have a blue heart.
"It is necessary that we make it to the quarterfinals or semi-finals. And then from there, anything can happen."
Meanwhile, Ronaldo was happy to score his second successive hat-trick against Ajax in the Champions League and hopes to continue his good form against Barcelona.
"I am very happy because we won and played well," Ronaldo told Canal+. For me, to score three goals is vital. We played a very complete game and it is very important to gain confidence for the next game.
"It's very important to take the ball home but the important thing is the team because without them I would not manage to score goals.
"I am confident that we will get a good result in a difficult place, the Camp Nou. They have a very good team and there will not be much difference."
