ILLNESS RULES COURTOIS OUT OF EL CLáSICO

Real Madrid have suffered a late setback ahead of Sunday’s clash with Barcelona after goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois was ruled out through illness.

The club confirmed that the Belgian developed flu-like symptoms and would miss the La Liga encounter at Camp Nou.

Young goalkeeper Illia Voloshyn has been added to the squad in his place, joining Andriy Lunin and Sergio Mestre.

Lunin is expected to start, although Madrid had not confirmed their starting line-up when the update was announced.

Courtois had initially been included in the travelling squad before his late withdrawal forced a change to José Mourinho’s preparations.

His absence leaves Madrid without their first-choice goalkeeper for one of the season’s biggest fixtures.

The club did not announce a recovery timeline or indicate whether the illness would affect Courtois’s availability beyond El Clásico.