Lineups of FC Barcelona Real Madrid El Clasico

FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick will deploy a new defense when his team takes on Real Madrid in El Clasico on Sunday afternoon in Spain.

The German has been suspended for the final episode of club football’s biggest match after being sent off in the Catalan derby. Barcelona won 2-1 against Girona last weekend.

Yet Flick will have a say in choosing the first XI which he will then place under the wing of his staff member Marcus Sorg.

To help protect Wojciech Szczesny’s Flick, a fairly new centerback duo has been chosen, consisting of Eric Garcia and Pau Cubarsi.

Eric is Flick’s Swiss army knife, usually starring in defensive midfield or right-back, but when Jules Kounde gets the all-clear it means the Frenchman will be deployed in the latter position while Alejandro Balde is on the other flank.

Anchor in the middle of the park, Frenkie de Jong will provide support for Pedri and a more advanced Fermin Lopez, who will look to finally get a goal against Real Madrid after his sensational breakthrough in Dallas during the summer 2023 pre-season tour.

FC Barcelona’s attack is also being adjusted

Raphinha is out, as we know, and could be sidelined for another month, meaning Marcus Rashford is the left winger.

Lamine Yamal has set the build-up to the match on fire, saying Madrid are “robbing and complaining”, and that he will be on the right wing to feed striker Ferran Torres and repeat his goal-scoring exploits that saw Barca win 4-0 on this ground a year ago.

Real Madrid will try to reverse four Clásico defeats against FC Barcelona

As for Madrid, goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has a back line of Alvaro Carreras, Dean Huijsen and Eder Militao in front of him, while coach Xabi Alonso goes for Fede Valverde at right-back in place of Dani Carvajal while Trent Alexander-Arnold is injured.

Aurelien Tchoumanei is the lynchpin, with a duo of Jude Bellingham and Eder Guler looking to contain Pedri but also fuel the attack.

With Rodrygo on the bench, a Kylian Mbappé is in the form of his life as the central number 9, flanked by a Brazilian-Argentinian duo of Vinicius Junior and Franco Mastantuono who are aiming to overturn four defeats in El Clasico against FC Barcelona last season.