Real Madrid’s official starting XI in El Clásico?
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will miss the massive game against Barcelona on Sunday through injury.
Barcelona travel to the Spanish capital this weekend with fond memories of their last visit to the Santiago Bernabéu. Barça stunned Los Blancos back in March with a 4-0 thrashing in the Clásico. Madrid do still hold the upper hand in the Clásico stakes with 100 victories, while the Blaugrana have won 97 times. Xavi’s side are currently top of the La Liga table on goal difference. Madrid have also collected 22 points from their opening eight league games and a win on Sunday would see them leapfrog their great rivals.
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Real Madrid confirmed XI for El Clásico
Lunin, Carvajal, Militão, Alaba, Kroos, Benzema, Modric, Valverde, Tchouameni, Vinicius, Mendy
On the bench for Ancelotti: Luis López, Cañizares, Vallejo, Nacho, Hazard, Asensio, Camavinga, Odriozola, Lucas Vázquez, Rodrygo, Rudiger, Mariano
Courtois out for Clásico
Carlo Ancelotti confirmed in yesterday’s press conference that Thibaut Courtois will play no part in today’s game. “Courtois is fine, he is feeling much better. He hasn’t trained very much over the past couple of weeks and he’s not comfortable. He won’t play tomorrow. He will train more regularly next week. We’ll see if he’s ready to return on Wednesday or next Saturday,” the Italian said.
Lunin to start in goal
Andriy Lunin, 23, will start between the sticks at the Bernabéu. Castilla’s Luis López and Lucas Cañizares (son of former Madrid, Valencia and Spain goalkeeper Santiago) are the two other netminders in the 23-man Madrid squad. Dani Ceballos remains out for Los Blancos, while Mariano, who has played a total of 10 minutes this season - coming on as a late sub in three games (RB Leipzig, Osasuna and Getafe) - has been named in the squad for the first Clásico of the season.
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Who is the referee for the Clásico?
The referee for the Clásico will be José María Sánchez Martínez. The 39-year-old is taking charge of his sixth Clásico and will be assisted by Raúl Cabañero Martínez and Juan López Mir. The fourth official will be Jorge Díaz Escudero, and the video assistant referee will be Alejandro Hernández Hernández.