Real Madrid confirm squad for Sunday's El Clasico

Real Madrid have confirmed their squad for Sunday's La Liga game against Barcelona, with Thibaut Courtois ruled out of the contest but Antonio Rudiger available for selection.

Rudiger emerged as a major doubt for El Clasico due to the head injury that he picked up while scoring his side's leveller against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League last week.

However, the Germany international has been passed fit for Sunday's affair, with Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti revealing that the defender will wear a mask if he takes to the field.

"Rudiger is good and the mask is just to stop the wound from opening again," Ancelotti told reporters after confirming that the central defender would be fit.

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Real Madrid have not received good news on Courtois, though, with the Belgium international still unavailable for selection this weekend due to a back problem.

The 30-year-old will miss his fifth successive match for Los Blancos on Sunday, with Andriy Lunin again set to be given the nod between the sticks.

However, Ancelotti said during his pre-match press conference that Courtois has been cleared to return to training, meaning that he will be back in the fold in the near future.

"Courtois is doing quite well, but he has trained little and he is ruled out for this game. The important thing is that he has recovered from his problem and now he just needs training sessions," said the Italian.

As well as Courtois, Dani Ceballos remains on the sidelines with a hamstring problem, with the midfielder not expected to be back until the early stages of November.

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Karim Benzema missed out against Getafe in La Liga last weekend due to fatigue, but the Frenchman was back against Shakhtar during the week, and he is in the squad here.

Ancelotti has decisions to make when it comes to his defence, with Rudiger, David Alaba and Eder Militao battling for the two centre-back spots.

Toni Kroos, Luka Modric and Aurelien Tchouameni are set to feature as the midfield three, while Benzema and Vinicius Junior should be joined in attack by Federico Valverde.

Lucas Vazquez, Rudiger, Nacho, Eden Hazard and Rodrygo could be the five players to drop out of the XI that started against Shakhtar on Tuesday night.

Real Madrid squad vs. Barcelona:

Lunin, Lopez, Canizares; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Vallejo, Nacho, Odriozola, Vazquez, Rudiger, Mendy; Kroos, Modric, Camavinga, Valverde, Tchouameni; Hazard, Benzema, Asensio, Vinicius., Rodrygo, Mariano