Jose Mourinho will walk out at Spotify Camp Nou on Sunday 25 October without his sharpest counter-attacking weapon. Vinicius Junior has been handed a four-match ban after his sending-off against Villarreal on 10 October, two matches for pulling Nathan Saliba’s hair and two more for his protests toward the referee.

The Clasico is the second match on the list. Real Madrid have said they will appeal.

The timing is brutal. Barcelona came out of the international break with an eighth straight league win, beating Getafe 3-0 the same evening Madrid were edging past Villarreal, through goals from Anthony Gordon, Gabriel Jesus and Jules Koundé. That eighth victory kept Hansi Flick’s side six points clear of fourth-placed Madrid.

Barcelona scoring at a rate nobody can match

Flick’s team have been “unstoppable”, as France 24 put it, netting 31 goals in their first seven league games. Lamine Yamal and Raphinha have shouldered most of the output, with Mourinho’s defence facing a familiar question: can anyone still slow this attack down at Camp Nou?

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Kick-off is at 9pm local time on Sunday 25 October. Real Madrid’s own announcement confirmed the date and slot.

Two defeats already stacked against Mourinho

Before the international break Real Madrid had already lost at Real Betis and at Atletico Madrid, which is how a team that beat Villarreal 1-0 still finds itself fourth. The Villarreal win was settled by Yan Diomande in the 62nd minute, his first goal for the club. The Vinicius red card followed ten minutes later.

Mourinho was honest about where that leaves the table.

“Obviously we want to be first, not second, third, fourth, or fifth. And we want more points than we have. Obviously, obviously,” he said.

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Mourinho stays off the microphone

After the Villarreal match the Portuguese skipped the post-game press conference, reportedly keeping quiet to avoid a ban that might keep him off the touchline for the biggest game of his second stint.

“I will not speak because I want to be sitting on the bench against Sevilla and Barcelona,” he was quoted as saying.

Mourinho rejoined Real Madrid in the summer on a three-year contract until 2029, replacing Carlo Ancelotti, who took the Brazil national team job ahead of this year’s World Cup. He is back at the Bernabeu for the first time since 2013, and so far the comeback has produced two league defeats and a Clasico he will enter on the back foot.

Real Madrid host Sevilla at the Bernabeu on 18 October without Vinicius. Mourinho’s first Clasico since his return kicks off a week later at 9pm local time on Sunday 25 October, with Barcelona on 24 points and Madrid on 18.

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