Ancelotti confirms key Real Madrid star will miss El Clasico against Barcelona

Carlo Ancelotti recently spoke to the media in the pre-match press conference, ahead of the upcoming El Clasico against FC Barcelona.

Among other things, the Real Madrid coach revealed an update on the fitness of Thibaut Courtois, ruling him out of the contest this weekend.

“He’s pretty good, but it’s true that he’s trained very little, he’s not comfortable and he’s ruled out,” said Ancelotti (h/t MARCA). “We’ll see for the following Sunday, but now he just needs to train.”

Courtois has been missing in action for a couple of weeks thanks to a sciatica problem. He had missed crucial matches against Osasuna and Getafe, along with both legs against Shakhtar Donetsk, in the UEFA Champions League.

It was Ancelotti, who had sparked hopes of Courtois’ potential return against Barcelona this weekend. But reports suggest it was a calculated tactical move by the Italian to keep Barcelona guessing.

With the Belgian now ruled out for certain, however, Real Madrid are set to continue with Andriy Lunin as their shot-stopper. The young Ukrainian has featured in four competitive matches so far, but the upcoming contest against Barcelona will be his toughest test yet.

While Courtois may be ruled out, Ancelotti did confirm that Antonio Rudiger is fit and in contention after recovering from a facial injury he suffered earlier this week.

Barcelona, themselves, have some injury problems to contend with, as Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Memphis Depay and Hector Bellerin are all absent.

However, the Catalans look set to welcome Jules Kounde back into the fold for Sunday’s Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

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