Thibaut Courtois has lost his battle to be fit for Real Madrid's home La Liga contest with Barcelona on Sunday afternoon.

The Belgium international has recently been sidelined with a troublesome back problem, and despite initially being expected to be available for El Clasico, the team's number one stopper will again miss out this weekend, with Andriy Lunin in line to continue between the sticks for the Spanish champions.

Dani Ceballos is also out with a hamstring problem, but Antonio Rudiger is available despite suffering a nasty head injury against Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League earlier this week.

Head coach Carlo Ancelotti is expected to make five changes to the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Shakhtar.

Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao and David Alaba should return to the defence alongside Ferland Mendy, while Luka Modric is expected back in midfield alongside Toni Kroos and Aurelien Tchouameni.

Vinicius Junior is also set to return in the final third, while Federico Valverde should again get the nod off the right of a front three, which will also include Karim Benzema.

Lucas Vazquez, Rudiger, Nacho, Eden Hazard and Rodrygo are expected to be the players to drop out of the starting XI for the league contest with Xavi's side, who sit at the top of La Liga due to their superior goal difference over their Clasico rivals.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup: Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Modric, Tchouameni, Kroos; Valverde, Benzema, Vinicius

> Click here to see how Barcelona could line up for the contest

Written by
Matt Law