Barcelona dealt late Clásico blow as winger ruled out

It’s been a busy day full of developments at Barça. The first alarm was raised by Jules Koundé. The French defender didn’t train on Thursday due to a knock that initially seemed minor, but according to Sport, he also missed Friday’s session.

Things got even more complicated when Raphinha, who had taken part in the last two sessions with the group, also failed to show up. He reportedly left the training ground early, looking visibly upset. Later, it was confirmed that the Brazilian winger would not feature in the game.

These two setbacks create problems for Hansi Flick ahead of the Clásico. As for Koundé, the first option would likely be to move Eric García to right-back, though that would leave him matched up against Vinicius—an extremely fast and explosive opponent.

Another possible solution would be to shift Ronald Araújo to the right, with Eric and Cubarsí forming the central pairing, both players more comfortable bringing the ball out from the back.

Raphinha’s absence is also significant, though he was unlikely to play given that he’s just returned from a hamstring injury that kept him out for a month. The expected attacking trio at the Bernabéu is Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, and Marcus Rashford.

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Meanwhile, Frenkie de Jong has returned to training after missing Thursday’s session with gastroenteritis and is expected to be available for Sunday. Andreas Christensen also trained with the group and should be fit to play as well.

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