Lamine Yamal will not play in the Clásico and will miss the remainder of LaLiga after suffering a rotura en el bíceps femoral of her left leg on April 22 against Celta, an injury that was confirmed the next day with an estimated absence of four to five weeks.
The Barcelona teenager’s absence is absolute: she is ruled out of the match against Real Madrid and will not play again in this Liga, while team-mate Andreas Christensen is also certain to miss the Clásico as he recovers from a partial rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.
The injury news alters the shape of the build-up to real madrid vs barcelona, but it is not one-sided: Koundé is cleared to return after serving a suspension at El Sadar, Alejandro Bernal will be available after being given three minutes in the match against Osasuna, and Raphinha — who had not played since March 26 in Brazil-France — is back on the bench and available for selection.
Real Madrid, meanwhile, arrive with five confirmed absences. Dani Carvajal is out with a fissure in the distal phalanx of the fifth toe of his right foot; Eder Militao has a rupture in the proximal tendon of the biceps femoral of his left leg; Ferland Mendy carries a rupture in the tendon of the rectus femoris of his right leg; Arda Güler suffers a rupture in the biceps femoral of his right leg; and Rodrygo is sidelined with a rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament of his right knee and damage to the external meniscus. Thibaut Courtois trained with the group all week and is expected to start in goal.
The contrast between the squads is stark on paper and in numbers. Since the October Clásico — the match played on October 26 that finished 2-1 and reshaped the standings at the time — Barcelona have collected 63 of the 69 league points available and have gone on a run of ten consecutive league wins. Over the same span Real Madrid have taken 47 points. Barcelona have also outscored their rivals by a wide margin: 63 goals to Real Madrid’s 46 in the intervening period.
Spanish outlets have read the picture similarly: one described the shift since October as Barcelona finding calm while Madrid has grown unstable, and another noted that Yamal now dominates the list of absences for the fixture even as Real Madrid must manage a string of serious injuries, a separate disciplinary 'apartado' and a partially fit Mbappé — who has carried discomfort in the semitendinosus of his left leg for 14 days.
That combination creates a clear tension. Barcelona will be missing two important players in Yamal and Christensen, but they still travel into a run where the team has been the league’s most consistent performer. Real Madrid are relieved to have Courtois available after group training, yet they will be forced to field a back line and attack missing key contributors, and the club’s medical list reads like a who’s who of first-team personnel.
There is also nuance behind the returns: Koundé’s comeback follows a suspension rather than an injury layoff; Bernal’s match fitness is minimal after three substitute minutes; and Raphinha’s presence on the bench masks nearly three weeks without competitive action. Those are not full restorations but they are usable options for a manager choosing between caution and necessity in one of the season’s defining fixtures.
The most consequential question is simple and immediate: can Barcelona maintain the ten-match winning momentum without Yamal and Christensen, and can Real Madrid cope with five absences and a string of muscular injuries well enough to narrow the gap that, since October, favors Barça by 16 points? The answer to that question will matter for the result on the night — and for the title race that follows.
