Real Madrid v Barcelona team news and possible starting line-up | El Clasico | 16.10.2022
Barcelona are going into Sunday’s Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu level on points with Real Madrid at the top of La Liga and having conceded just one league goal all season.
Real Madrid Team News
Real Madrid will again definitely be without the services of Dani Ceballos due to a hamstring injury, while Thibaut Courtois has allegedly lost his battle to overcome a back problem in time for El Clasico.
As a result, Andriy Lunin is set to continue between the sticks, while Antonio Rudiger is also expected to be fit despite suffering a nasty head injury when scoring his side’s leveller against Shakhtar in the Champions League.
🔥🔴 LIVE: Watch our final training session ahead of #ElClásico! https://t.co/89fffjnQNM
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) October 15, 2022
Real Madrid will not be at full strength due to the likely absence of Courtois, but there are not expected to be any surprises in terms of the 10 outfield players, with Federico Valverde set to again feature off the right of a front three.
Eder Militao is set to get the nod over Rudiger to start alongside David Alaba, while Real Madrid’s first-choice midfield of Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni and Toni Kroos should take to the field.
Barcelona Team News
As for Barcelona, Jules Kounde is expected to make a timely return from injury for the Catalan side, with the Frenchman set to line up in the middle of the defence alongside Eric Garcia, replacing Gerard Pique in the process.
Memphis Depay, Hector Bellerin, Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen remain on the sidelines through injury, but Xavi’s side have no fresh fitness concerns for the contest.
Training for #ElClásico
🎧 𝕊𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕕 𝕆𝕟 🎧 pic.twitter.com/8YIiFDaG8O— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 15, 2022
Alejandro Balde could come into the side at left-back, while Ansu Fati might get the nod over Raphinha to start alongside Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski in attack.
Frenkie de Jong is an option for change in the middle of midfield, but it seems likely that Sergio Busquets will again be joined by youngsters Gavi and Pedri in a midfield three.
Possible starting line-up:
Real Madrid
Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Modric, Tchouameni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius
Barcelona
Ter Stegen; Roberto, Kounde, E Garcia, Balde; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Dembele, Lewandowski, Fati
