Real Madrid host La Liga champions in the first Clasico of the season, aiming to break a four-game losing streak against their Catalan rivals. Madrid is also defending their league lead, entering Sunday’s match at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium with a two-point advantage over Barcelona.
Madrid lost all Clasicos last season across all competitions, being outscored 16-7. It marked the first instance where Barcelona won every Clasico in a season with at least three matches between the rivals.
Barcelona arrives with injury concerns in attack, and coach Hansi Flick will have to watch the game from a stadium box after being shown a red card for protesting in the previous round.
Lamine Yamal is set to start for the visitors after playing two games since
returning from a nagging groin injury. However, striker Robert Lewandowski is ruled out for Barcelona with a hamstring injury, and forward Raphinha remains on the injury list due to a right leg ailment sustained in late September.
Raphinha scored five of the 16 goals that Barcelona netted in the four matches against Madrid last season. Playmaker Dani Olmo and first-choice goalkeeper Joan García have already been ruled out due to injuries.
Madrid will be led by a red-hot Kylian Mbappé, who has scored a La Liga-leading 10 goals in nine rounds – four more than his nearest challenger – and an additional five goals in the Champions League over the first two months of the season.
Madrid beat Juventus 1-0 in the Champions League with a goal by Jude Bellingham on Wednesday, while Barcelona arrives following a 6-1 win against Olympiakos. Midfielder Fermín López scored a hat trick, and Marcus Rashford added two more goals.
The Clasico comes with La Liga lamenting the collapse of plans to hold a regular-season game between Barcelona and Villarreal in Miami next month.
