Barcelona injury crisis: Star forward ruled out for El Clasico with Real Madrid

Originally posted on Football Espana | By Ruairidh Barlow | Last updated Oct 24, 2025 7:24 AM ET

Barcelona will not be able to count on star forward Raphinha for El Clasico, as they go into a top of the table clash with Real Madrid on Sunday. The Brazilian has been suffering from a hamstring injury for the last month, but will not be fit in time for the game.

It is a major blow for manager Hansi Flick, as he expected to have the Brazilian fit for the game. Raphinha was scheduled to return last week, but only returned to training on Wednesday. However Jijantes have revealed that Raphinha did not complete training on Thursday, and after feeling fresh discomfort at the end of the session, was not present in their session on Friday. As such, he has been ruled out against Real Madrid.

Frenkie de Jong and Andreas Christensen will return

After missing Thursday’s session with illness, Vice-Captain Frenkie de Jong will be back in contention for a starting spot. Andreas Christensen has been absent from training since Monday with his own bug, but returned on Friday as well, and is set to be fit. The other doubt is over Jules Kounde, who has missed their last two training sessions with a muscle issue too, but is expected to be fit.

Frenkie de Jong has fully recovered from his gastrointestinal issue and was the first player to arrive at the Ciutat Esportiva for today's training. @monfortcarlos

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) October 24, 2025

Barcelona’s injury list for El Clasico

Raphinha will watch on from Barcelona, as is the case for Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Joan Garcia, Dani Olmo, Robert Lewandowski and Gavi on the injury list for one of the two biggest games of the year. It looks to have certainly reduced Flick’s options, and makes it likely that Marcus Rashford, Ferran Torres and Lamine Yamal will start up front for Barcelona at the Bernabeu. Fermin Lopez seems the obvious option behind them. Off the bench though, it leaves Barcelona with only Roony Bardghji as a senior option up front.

This article first appeared on Football Espana and was syndicated with permission.

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