La Liga gives us our first Clásico of the season on Sunday at 9pm CET (3pm ET) as FC Barcelona’s Spotify Camp Nou hosts the first competitive meeting between these two teams since José Mourinho returned to the dugout as coach of Real Madrid.
Both sides played in the UEFA Champions League in midweek. The reigning La Liga champions fell to a 4-2 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain in the French capital on Tuesday night before Los Blancos beat RB Leipzig 4-1 at the Bernabéu on Wednesday night.
This game could prove pivotal for Mourinho. The team sit third in the La Liga table, having lost two of their first nine league games, despite winning their last four matches in a row in all competitions.
Mourinho lost his only previous meeting with Hansi Flick, a 2019/20 UEFA Champions League group stage defeat for Tottenham against Flick’s Bayern Munich. However, he has plenty of experience in this fixture and won five, drew six and lost six of his previous 17 Clásicos during his first stint as Real Madrid coach.
Real Madrid team news vs. FC Barcelona
Mourinho will have close to his full squad available, but will be missing some key players in attack. The most notable is Brazilian winger Vinícius Júnior, who will serve the second game of a four-match ban after being sent off against Villarreal for pulling the hair of opponent Nathan Saliba.
The other Brazilian to be absent is Rodrygo Goes, expected back in action late this year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament. He is yet to train with the squad under Mourinho but is expected back in time for the reverse fixture.
The other player ruled out is defender Raúl Asencio, who underwent surgery on a broken leg a month ago and is not expected back in training until the new year.
Frenchman Ferland Mendy is also yet to feature under Mourinho, but has rejoined the group partially for training after a serious hamstring injury. This tie could come just too soon for Mendy to make the squad, but his return is imminent.
Real Madrid expected lineup vs. FC Barcelona
Real Madrid’s expected starting lineup against Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Thibaut Courtois; Denzel Dumfries, Dean Huijsen, Ibrahima Konaté, Marc Cucurella; Arda Güler, Aurélien Tchouameni; Fede Valverde, Jude Bellingham, Yan Diomande; Kylian Mbappé.
The biggest call for Mourinho will be how he sets up his right flank, having described the connection between Arda Güler and Fede Valverde as a “good solution” in midweek. This time, the coach could opt to move Valverde further forward in a more advanced roll in order to recall Denzel Dumfries for his defensive strength at the back.
On the left of attack, club record transfer signing Yan Diomande is set to replace Vinícius as he did against Sevilla. He has registered three goals and three assists in his last four appearances, and is finding his feet in the Spanish capital after joining from RB Leipzig in the summer.
In midfield, Turkish youngster Arda Güler is likely to line up alongside Aurélien Tchouameni in a repeat of the selection against Sevilla. He has scored in two consecutive matches and registered two assists against Roma in the previous game.
Defensively, it could be veteran Antonio Rüdiger who sits out. Ibrahima Konaté and Dean Huijsen are the first choice pairing this campaign and have featured together regularly. Both are fit and will be selected together alongside summer signing Marc Cucurella on the left.
Off the bench, impact sub Carlos Espí has scored two decisive goals in the final minutes already this season. That’s in addition to the more experienced talents of Brahim Díaz, who claimed an assist on Wednesday, and Bernardo Silva, who scored the opening goal against Leipzig.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com