Definitely decided: Courtois will not play El Clásico, Real Madrid must rely on Lunin

It was the hottest topic of the last few days. Will Thibaut Courtois be able to recover in time for Sunday’s El Clásico? The information has been pouring in from one side to the other, now we know the definitive answer. The Belgian will not start against Barcelona and Real Madrid will have to rely on Andriy Lunin.

Playing with Courtois and without him is a huge difference for Real Madrid. The young Andriy Lunin is also of quality and deserves his chance, but the lanky Belgian gives the team complete peace of mind, always picking up an extra touch and also helping a lot in the midfield, which he has improved tremendously since arriving from England.

However, he brought back a sciatic nerve injury from the national team meeting, which is a very unpleasant thing. The worst part of the whole thing is that no doctor in the world can say when the player will recover. It’s an individual injury, one heals in a few days, the other in a few months.

Originally it wasn’t supposed to be that serious and Courtois was expected back last week. In the end, it was postponed and the Belgian was supposed to start on Wednesday against Shakhtar. That didn’t happen either and according to coach Carlo Ancelotti, Courtois was preparing for Sunday’s El Clásico.

But he won’t make that either. Ancelotti revealed at a press conference that Courtois is in better health, but the two-week training layoff has affected him and he will not play against Barcelona.

Andriy Lunin will get a big chance. The Ukrainian goalkeeper was bought by Real Madrid as a great talent, but he is having a hard time getting into goal despite Courtois. Now he has a big opportunity to show that he deserves more minutes between the three posts.

Source: Real Madrid, MARCA