Barcelona host Racing Santander at the Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday night, kick-off 21:30 CEST, knowing exactly what the game is worth. Real Madrid's 3-2 win at Elche on Tuesday, settled by Carlos Espí in the 91st minute, took them level on 15 points at the top of La Liga. Madrid have played six games. Barcelona have played five.

A win puts Barcelona three points clear again before the weekend, when they travel to Sevilla on Saturday and Madrid go to Atlético Madrid on Sunday. It would also give Hansi Flick's side something no Barcelona team has managed: seven wins from the first seven competitive matches of a season. Five league wins with 21 goals, the latest Sunday's 4-2 win at Levante, and a 5-1 defeat of Feyenoord in the Champions League have brought them to the edge of it.

Flick spent Tuesday's press conference playing the milestone down.

I don't want to break records, I want to win matches.

Hansi Flick, pre-match press conference, Tuesday

He described Racing as a side in good form, dangerous when they attack space and quick to the second ball, and warned that the game would not be easy.

Team news

Frenkie de Jong and Roony Bardghji are injured, and the club says the rest of the squad is available. Forbes' Tom Sanderson expects Flick to rotate, with João Cancelo, Jules Koundé and Andreas Christensen coming into the defence, Dani Olmo into midfield and Gavi again on the bench. He expects the front three of Anthony Gordon, Raphinha and Lamine Yamal to stay as they are.

Yamal and Raphinha have six league goals each, one behind Kylian Mbappé, whose goal at Elche was his seventh. Raphinha also scored twice against Feyenoord last week.

Racing

This will be the first time the fixture has been played at the stadium in 14 years. Racing are back in the top flight after a decade and a half in the lower divisions, and this is their 45th season in it. José Alberto López's side have seven points from five games, all of them won at El Sardinero: a 2-2 draw with Villarreal and wins over Elche and Alavés, with defeats at Getafe and Rayo Vallecano. They are still waiting for a point away from home.

Their threat is Yassir Zabiri, the Morocco forward on loan from Rennes. He is the first player to score five goals in Racing's first five Liga games of a season, a run that includes a hat-trick against Elche and both goals in Saturday's 2-1 win over Alavés. Racing are without goalkeeper Simon Eriksson and forward Andrés Martín through injury, and André Almeida is suspended.

History does not help them. Racing have not beaten Barcelona since 2004 and have not scored against them in the last five meetings. The most recent was a 2-0 Barcelona win in the Copa del Rey in Santander in January, with goals from Ferran Torres and Yamal.

Zabiri has five goals in five games. Racing have none in their last five against Barcelona.