The first El Clasico of the season is here! And when this match rolls around, anyone who who has the slightest chance of potentially playing, absolutely will play. FC Barcelona currently have seven players in the treatment room, and at least two of them should be ready for the epic clash against at Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu: Andreas Christensen and Raphinha.
El Clasico FYIs
Kickoff: Sun Oct. 26 5:15 PM, El Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid, Spain
Team News: FC Barcelona Real Madrid
Google’s Result Probability: FC Barcelona win 47% Draw 23% Real Madrid win 30%
La Liga Standing, Form: FC Barcelona 2nd, 22 pts WWWLW Real Madrid 1st, 24 pts, WWLWW
Barca Team News
Christensen missed out on the 6-1 thrashing of Olympiacos on Tuesday night, but his situation is expected to improve in time for Sunday.
The main fitness concern here, for Hansi Flick and his men, is Raphinha however.
“He is a very important player and we hope to have him back for Sunday,” Flick said on Monday, ahead of the UCL rout. The Brazilian forward has been out injured since September 25.
Moving on to Ferran Torres, he made the matchday squad on Tuesday, despite not having participated in any of the pre-match training session.
And then of course, long term injury absentees Joan Garcia, Dani Olmo, Gavi, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Robert Lewandowski will all remain sidelined for this one.
Paul M. Banks is the Founding Editor of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He currently contributes to USA Today’s NFL Wires Network. His past bylines include the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. His work has been featured in numerous outlets, including the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Washington Post and ESPN. You can follow him on Linked In and Twitter