Courtois ruled out as Barcelona host Real Madrid in El Clasico
publishers 13articles 21first reported 18 Oct, 21:17 UTCdeveloping since 19 Oct · 13 editions
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will miss Sunday’s El Clasico against Barcelona at Camp Nou because of a flu-like illness, the club said. The Belgian had played every match for Madrid this season.
Andriy Lunin is expected to start in goal, according to CNA. Madrid also called 19-year-old Ukrainian goalkeeper Illia Voloshyn into the senior squad, alongside Sergio Mestre.
Barcelona enter the match unbeaten in La Liga after winning their first nine games and scoring 39 goals. Hansi Flick’s side lead third-placed Madrid by six points, meaning a Barcelona victory would extend the gap to nine, while a Madrid win would reduce it to three.
The hosts are seeking to recover from Tuesday’s 4-2 Champions League defeat at Paris Saint-Germain, their first loss of the season. Madrid arrive after four consecutive wins, including a midweek victory over RB Leipzig, but have lost six of their past seven Clasicos.
The match also marks Jose Mourinho’s return to El Clasico after 13 years. Now in his second spell as Madrid coach, Mourinho said his team remained in the early stages of adapting to his methods. Attention will also focus on Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal and Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.
Kickoff is scheduled for 9 p.m. local time on Sunday.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 7 with the publisher's own text; 5 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 162 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
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- Source articles
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- Given to the writer
- 8, 7 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 5
- This version written
- 162 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
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- Human review
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