Real Madrid training update before El Clasico – five stars fit and ready, two absentees | OneFootball

Real Madrid took the field at Valdebebas this morning for their final training session before facing FC Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

With the top spot in the league table on the line, the Merengues will be eager to secure all three points, especially having been unable to win even once in the four El Clasicos last season.

Leading up to the match, Real Madrid had been sweating over the availability of some key players, including captain Dani Carvajal and defensive mainstay Dean Huijsen.

Five players back and ready

And, according to AS, there is plenty of good news for Real Madrid from their final training session before the Clasico.

Indeed, Carvajal, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Huijsen, Raul Asencio, and Dani Ceballos have all recovered from their fitness issues, are fit, and ready to play.

Carvajal’s diagnosis initially indicated four weeks of recovery, which concludes exactly tomorrow. He suffered a tear in his right soleus but has made excellent progress, training with the group since Tuesday and pushing to start.

Trent suffered a tear in his left hamstring against Marseille on 16 September. The expected recovery time was 6-8 weeks, but he has worked extremely hard and shortened it. He has trained with the group since the start of the week.

Carvajal is ready. (Photo by Mateo Villalba Sanchez/Getty Images)

So, the question now is whether Carvajal and Trent are at full match fitness and ready to start in such a demanding fixture.

The situation is different with Huijsen, who is feeling fully fit and will start tomorrow. Three weeks ago, he experienced discomfort in his left soleus and left the Spain camp.

A scan revealed a 12-15 day recovery period. 17 days have passed, and now he appears to be back at 100 per cent.

Meanwhile, Asencio is also back to full fitness. His discomfort, picked up against Getafe, in the left hamstring was only a minor overload a brief cramp.

Ceballos, too, has recovered. He had felt some slight hamstring discomfort a week ago, which kept him out against Getafe, but he is now ready for El Clasico.

Only two absentees confirmed

Therefore, only two players – David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger – will miss El Clasico.

Rudiger’s absence was expected as he still has several weeks of recovery left after he suffered a tear in the rectus femoris of his left leg, and was initially diagnosed as a 10-12 week absence.

Alaba’s case, however, had carried a faint hope of a surprise return. But it has not happened. The medical team estimated 7-10 days of recovery for the veteran, meaning he should be available next week against Valencia.