Barcelona go into Barcelona vs Real Madrid with a fresh fitness problem. Jules Koundé suffered an ankle injury in the previous La Liga game against Real Betis at Estadio de La Cartuja, and tests on Sunday confirmed a ligament sprain. He was already ruled out of Barcelona’s Champions League match against PSG, which ended in a 4-2 loss.
Barcelona's injury list
Kounde is not the only concern for Hansi Flick. Dani Olmo is also ruled out after suffering an adductor tear against PSG, while Eric Garcia is unavailable after an injury against Real Betis. Andreas Christensen and Roony Bardghji will also miss the game.
That leaves Barcelona with less room to manoeuvre in a fixture they would normally expect to control. Their league start has been perfect, with nine wins from nine and a +30 goal difference, but the defensive cover around Kounde matters because he has already made 6 La Liga appearances and logged 357 minutes.
Real Madrid's chance
Real Madrid arrive third in La Liga with 21 points from nine matches, which gives the visitors a clean route into the title conversation if Barcelona's absences bite. Roberto Gómez, quoted by A Bola and translated from Portuguese, said: "The one who was going to do it was Hernández Hernández." He also said, "Hernández Hernández does not referee."
Those referee comments are one side issue in the build-up. The more immediate story is Barcelona's shortage, and Kounde's ankle sprain now sits on top of it. The match in Barcelona vs Real Madrid is set for 25 October at 20:00 UTC.
Written by Daniel Hartley with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 3 outlets. How we work →
