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Barcelona have been hit by an injury crisis ahead of the first El Clasico of the season. Barca will be without Raphinha as well as Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Joan Garcia, Gavi, Dani Olmo and Robert Lewandowski for Sunday’s La Liga showdown at the Bernabeu. Raphinha has not recovered from a leg muscle injury, in a major blow for the Catalans. With Raphinha out, Marcus Rashford will play a key role for Barca. “Any team would miss Raphinha, but the situation is what it is,” confirmed Barca assistant coach Marcus Sorg. “He is injured.” But Ferran Torres, Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen and Frenkie De Jong all trained on Saturday and Barca hope they will be fit. Torres pulled out of the Spain squad earlier this month with muscle fatigue, while De Jong missed three training sessions this week due to illness and Kounde was forced off in the 6-1 Champions League win over Olympiacos in midweek with a leg issue. Barca will also be without boss Hansi Flick, who is suspended after being shown a red card in the win over Girona last week. In his absence, his assistant Sorg will be on the bench. Real Madrid will be without Antonio Rudiger but they have been boosted by the fitness off Dean Huijsen, Dani Carvajal and Trent Alexander-Arnold. Huijsen has recovered from the calf injury that forced him to miss games agianst Getafe and Juventus. He is set to partner Eder Militao at centre-back with Rudiger sidelined. Jude Bellingham scored Real Madrid’s winner against Juventus in midweek and will be pushing to start alongside Arda Guler and Vinicius Jr in support of the red-hot Kylian Mbappe, who has scored 15 goals in all competitions so far this season. Predicted Real Madrid XI: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Huijsen, A. Carreras; Valverde, Tchouameni; Arda Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr; Mbappe Predicted Barcelona XI: Szczesny; Kounde, Cubarsi, Araujo, Balde; De Jong, Pedri; Lamine Yamal, Fermin, Rashford; Torres Time and date: 3.15pm GMT on Sunday, October 26, 2025 How to watch: Premier Sports Venue: Santiago Bernabeu
