Thibaut Courtois was dropped at the last minute for El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid. The Belgian goalkeeper is out of the group due to a flu-like illness, and young Ilya Voloshin was called up in his place.
„Thibaut Courtois is out of the squad at the last minute due to a flu-like illness. Ilya Voloshin has been called up in his place“, Real Madrid announced.
The match from the 10th round of La Liga is scheduled for 9:00 p.m. Courtois' absence comes at a time when Madrid have serious defensive problems and face the most productive team in the Spanish championship.
Courtois was key for Real Madrid
Before the derby, Courtois had made 12 appearances for Real Madrid in La Liga and the Champions League. He had spent 1,080 minutes on the pitch, conceded 14 goals, made 45 saves and had only two clean sheets.
In the championship, the Belgian had played in nine matches. In them, he had conceded nine goals, saved 29 shots and registered a save percentage of 76.3 percent. These figures underline his importance to Real ahead of the match with Barcelona.
Barcelona enters the derby with 39 goals
Barcelona have won their first nine matches in La Liga and scored 39 goals. In all competitions, the Catalans have scored 50 goals in 12 matches, conceding 15.
Lamin Yamal is one of the main drivers of the attack. The young striker has eight goals and six assists in Barcelona's first nine matches in the championship, or a total of 14 goal appearances.
Against this backdrop, Real Madrid have only two matches without conceding a goal in their first 12 matches of the season. Mourinho must find a solution to both Courtois' absence and the problems in the collective defense, which leave opponents with too many opportunities in front of goal.
The key for Madrid will be to press from the front and limit the free spaces between the lines. If Real fail to close the passes to Yamal and the rest of Barcelona's attacking players, the absence of the starting goalkeeper could further increase the pressure on the team.
Sources: goal.com, elpais.com, cadenaser.com