Real Madrid come into El Clasico on a six-match unbeaten run, but still without a certain fluidity, as was seen in the Madrid derby on Saturday.
Injuries and fitness are set to play a key role in the fixture, with Barcelona missing their three best attacking players in Pedri, Ousmane Dembele and Robert Lewandowski.
Real Madrid are missing David Alaba and Ferland Mendy, while they are also sweating on the fitness of Rodrygo Goes. The Brazilian injured his gluteus against Liverpool, missing Atletico Madrid. He returned to training on Wednesday.
“Rodrygo has trained, it seems that he is fine but we will make a decision after,” manager Carlo Ancelotti told the press.
He also gave updates on Eden Hazard and Aurelien Tchouameni, who are no longer injured but have not featured much of late.
“Hazard is fine, he is training and wants to have minutes, he can have them in the coming games.”
“Aurelien is fine, recovering his condition and can be a starter.”
“Camavinga is doing very well and that’s good, having two players of this level gives us something more.”
The Italian manager will have a selection headache on his hands against a weakened Barcelona. Real Madrid could strike an important emotional blow by beating the Blaugrana and condemning them to three straight defeats. Equally, being the first of a two-legged tie usually brings more caution, although Liverpool can attest that that is not always the case.
