CONFIRMED
Thibaut Courtois will miss El Clasico through illness, as Reuters headlined, with Real Madrid confirming a last-minute withdrawal because of flu. Real Madrid’s official lineup puts Andriy Lunin in goal at Camp Nou, with Illia Voloshyn called up to sit on the bench.
What we know
Real Madrid said Courtois is a last-minute withdrawal from the LaLiga matchday 10 game against Barcelona because of a bout of flu, ESPN reports, quoting the club statement. The same statement said Illia Voloshyn was called up in his place.
The club’s own website settles the rest. Real Madrid’s official starting XI has Lunin in goal. Voloshyn is listed among the substitutes. Courtois is not in the matchday squad at all.
ESPN reports that Lunin, 27, replaces Courtois, 34, and that the match at Camp Nou finds Madrid trailing leaders Barcelona by six points. ESPN also notes Madrid have lost twice in LaLiga this season, at Real Betis and Atletico Madrid, while Barcelona have won all their league games.
Reuters carried the headline “Real Madrid goalkeeper Courtois to miss Clasico due to illness”. We could not open the full Reuters text, so the detail here rests on the club statement and lineup, as published by Real Madrid and reported by ESPN.
Two older stories have been knocked down. Live-blog and preview claims that Courtois might still play or travel later were overturned by the official lineup. And reports linking this absence to a leg or adductor problem belong to a different Clasico, in October 2024. Real Madrid’s 2026 statement says flu.
What we don’t know yet
How long Courtois will be out. Real Madrid has issued no return timeline.
We also have not verified anything about the match itself. There is no checked result, scoreline or in-game detail here, so we will not pretend otherwise.
What is rumored
Marca reported, as relayed by aggregator RotoWire, that Courtois would not travel to Barcelona and was “definitively” out, having abandoned hopes of travelling separately. Marca is a major Spanish daily with good Real Madrid sourcing, but this came secondhand. The club lineup has since matched it.
Earlier in the day, a Managing Madrid live blog said Courtois would try to play through his illness and could travel later, and a Sports Illustrated preview with unnamed sourcing said he was still hopeful of playing. Both are fan-site or unsourced claims, and Real Madrid’s official lineup contradicts them.
On the road ahead, Heavy.com notes the club has not said how long Courtois will be unavailable, and RotoWire, citing Marca, says his availability for the next fixture is uncertain. Treat that as open, not as news.
What it means
Here is the big shift. ESPN reports Courtois played a starring role in Madrid’s 4-1 Champions League win over RB Leipzig in midweek, and pre-match reporting says he had started every competitive match for Madrid this season, with more than 1,000 minutes across LaLiga and the Champions League. Madrid lose their ever-present number one on the morning of the biggest league game of the season.
The squad sheet was already thin. Pre-match reports list Raúl Asencio, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo as also out, with Vinícius Júnior serving the second game of a four-match LaLiga suspension. Add a goalkeeper change, and Madrid walk into Camp Nou missing pieces at both ends of the pitch.
What it changes tactically, we can’t honestly tell you from the facts in hand. What we can say is simpler. Madrid arrive six points behind a Barcelona side with a perfect league record, and Lunin carries the job of keeping that gap from growing. For a 27-year-old deputy, there is no bigger stage in Spanish football.
Rulebook note for the pedants: nothing illegal or irregular here. A late illness withdrawal is just football. The squad was named, the backup was called up, and the substitute goalkeeper is on the bench where he belongs.
