Thibaut Courtois will not play in El Clasico. Real Madrid confirmed on the morning of the game that the Belgian had been pulled from the squad with flu, a late scratch on a day Mourinho could least afford one.
Andriy Lunin is in line to take the gloves. Young Ukrainian goalkeeper Illia Voloshyn has been called up to the matchday squad as emergency cover. Lunin has deputised for Courtois in big games before, including the run to the 2024 Champions League title, but he arrives at Spotify Camp Nou on a few hours’ notice against the top-scoring attack in Spain.
Vinicius ban stacks the absences
Courtois is the second big name Mourinho has lost for this fixture, and the first blow was self-inflicted. Vinicius Junior is serving a four-match suspension after a red card against Villarreal on 11 October, when he grabbed defender Nathan Saliba by the hair. The Brazilian will not be available again until the Celta Vigo game on 22 November.
Rodrygo and Raul Asencio are also listed as unavailable, thinning out Mourinho’s options at both ends of the pitch.
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Barcelona arrive top and unbeaten in La Liga
Hansi Flick’s Barcelona lead the table on 27 points from nine games. Real Madrid sit third with 21, six points back, and a defeat in Catalonia would push the gap to nine with a quarter of the season gone.
The hosts come in off a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, their first loss of the season, but their domestic record is perfect: nine La Liga matches, nine wins.
Mourinho’s first Clasico back
This is Mourinho’s first Clasico since returning to Real Madrid on a three-year deal in the summer. Al Jazeera notes it will be his 18th Clasico on the Real bench overall, with his record spanning a difficult first-decade spell and three wins in his final five against Barcelona before leaving in 2013. His pre-match line to reporters, carried by Al Jazeera, was that “normally, the football world stops to watch” the fixture.
Kick-off at Spotify Camp Nou is at 9pm local time (20:00 GMT).
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