Real Madrid have been sailing through the season so far, wining 11 of their 12 opening matches. They have been doing so without two of their key players in recent weeks too.
Karim Benzema is now recovered from his thigh injury and is expected to start against Shakhtar Donetsk ahead of Sunday’s El Clasico.
There are still doubts about the fitness of Thibaut Courtois though. The Belgian goalkeeper has been suffering with pain caused by sciatica and has been absent since the international break.
However speaking to Mundo Deportivo, Carlo Ancelotti was optimistic on Courtois’ chances to make El Clasico.
“He will be ready for the Clasico.”
“Today he was much better. We spoke with him before leaving Madrid and he will start training on Thursday in order to be ready for Sunday.”
As Relevo point out though, he has already suffered a setback when he came back to training the first time. It means his fitness will be a question mark right up until the day of the Barcelona match.
In his absence, Andriy Lunin has been deputising and secured Real Madrid’s first clean sheet of the season against Getafe. No doubt the Real Madrid backline will feel much more secure with Courtois behind them though.