Jules Koundé ruled out of El Clásico with ankle injury

Barcelona defender Jules Koundé has been officially ruled out of Sunday's La Liga Clásico against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou, after failing to train with the group on Saturday. Source: Diario Libre

Injury and absences

Koundé has been nursing a left ankle sprain sustained in last weekend's league win over Betis. He missed Tuesday's Champions League match against PSG, and despite initial hopes he would recover in time, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick confirmed the decision to rest him. "Jules will not be there tomorrow, we don't want to take risks with him, he's not ready at the right moment but we have to accept it," Flick said in his pre-match press conference. Source: Diario Libre The French full-back trained apart from the group during the open portion of Saturday's session. Source: infobae

Koundé joins a growing injury list that includes Dani Olmo (muscle injury, out for a month), Eric Garcia, Andreas Christensen, and Roony Bardghji. Source: infobae, Diario Libre To fill the gaps, Flick called up youth players Hamza Abdelkarim, central defender Alex Campos, and midfielder Orian Goren. Source: infobae

The context

Barcelona enter the match as league leaders with a six-point advantage over third-placed Real Madrid, but are coming off their first defeat of the season — a Champions League loss to PSG on Tuesday. Source: Diario Libre Real Madrid, meanwhile, have won four consecutive official matches. Flick acknowledged the challenge: "I expect a team with a lot of confidence… they have fantastic players, enormous quality, especially in the final third of the pitch." Source: Diario Libre He also praised his counterpart José Mourinho, calling him "a colleague, a successful fellow professional and a great companion." Source: Diario Libre