El Clasico: Barcelona and Real Madrid receive fitness boosts ahead of LaLiga showdown

Barcelona and Real Madrid poised for El Clasico | Imago

FOOTBALL El Clasico: Barcelona and Real Madrid receive fitness boosts ahead of LaLiga showdown

El Clasico: Barcelona and Real Madrid receive fitness boosts ahead of LaLiga showdown

Ayoola Kelechi • 23:34 - 16.10.2023

LaLiga giants Barcelona and Real Madrid have received boosts in their preparation for the first El Clasico for the 2023/24 season

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have received good news from their injury desks ahead of the crucial first El Clasico of the season. 

Barcelona and Real Madrid set for El Clasico

The eternal enemies of Spanish football will face off for the first time in the 2023/24 campaign on October 28th, with both teams looking to take the top spot in LaLiga. 

Both Barcelona and Real Madrid have suffered a number of injury blows in the build-up to the classic, with a number of key individuals on both sides of the divide risking being absent from the showpiece. 

var widgetLoaderConfig = widgetLoaderConfig || { CDN_URL: 'https://widgets.sportal365.com', APP_LINK: 'desktop', API_URL: 'https://africa.football.api.sportal365.com/', API_KEY: '2f852b4de2f3a5cf3188e74b33087bb4:2c18422f8e826a7d11aeed52edb2449e', LANG: 'en', REQUEST_INTERVAL: 30, ENABLE_BET_SLIP: false, AUTHOR: false, THEME: "light", TOURNAMENT_ORDER: "pulse_nigeria", LINK_OPTIONS_V2: { 'player' : { 'url': '/football/player/{playerId}' }, 'team' : { 'url': '/football/{teamId}' }, 'tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}' }, 'match': { 'url' : '/football/match/{matchId}', 'sort': { 'criteria': 'alphabetically', 'direction': 'asc' } }, 'configuration': { 'newWindow': false }, 'standings_tournament': { 'url': '/football/competition/{tournamentId}/standings' } } }; if (!document.querySelector('script[src="https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js"]')) { window.setTimeout(function () { let scriptCss = document.createElement('link'); scriptCss.href = 'https://www.pulsesports.ng/css/sport-widgets.css?v=1668785443'; scriptCss.rel = 'stylesheet'; scriptCss.type = 'text/css'; document.body.appendChild(scriptCss); let scriptTag = document.createElement('script'); scriptTag.src = 'https://widgets.sportal365.com/loader.bundle.min.js'; scriptTag.defer = true; scriptTag.onload = function () { window.setTimeout(function () { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }, 200); }; document.head.appendChild(scriptTag); }, 0); } else { new SMPWidgetsLoader(widgetLoaderConfig); }

Barcelona have recently suffered injuries to Pedri, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha, Alejandro Balde, Robert Lewandowski, and Jules Kounde, while Real Madrid are without long-term absentee Thibaut Courtois while sweating over the fitness of Eder Militao, David Alaba, and Arda Guler. 

El Clasico pair receive good news 

Given the long list of absentees for the match, both teams would have been overjoyed to receive news that some of the players currently out injured could be fit in time for El Clasico. 

Although originally ruled out of the match, Barcelona’s de Jong is now back in contention to make an appearance after having splints removed from his ankles. 

There is more good news for Barcelona as Spanish midfielder Pedri is also likely to play against Real Madrid, ending a two-month-long injury spell. 

ElClasico: Barcelona vs Real Madrid remains the main attraction in LaLiga | Imago
Barcelona vs Real Madrid remains the main attraction in LaLiga | Imago

On the Real Madrid side of things, defender David Alaba is likely to make a return to the first-team as early as this weekend against Sevilla, while club captain Nacho Fernandez’ three-match suspension was commuted to two matches, which will allow the Spaniard to play against Barcelona as well.

Related content

Tags:
Barcelona Real Madrid LaLiga David Alaba Frenkie de Jong Nacho Fernandez Pedro Gonzales Lopez