Will Raphinha Miss Crucial Clasico Clash?

The hopes of Barcelona to compete against Real Madrid in the high profile Barcelona vs Real Madrid clash will take a major blow, with the winger Raphinha being unable to take part in the big match because of a hamstring recovery setback. The Brazilian star who is away due to approximately a month complained of pain in his body during training and thus the club purportedly postponed his inclusion into the team squad. His final game was in Barcelona 2-0 over Real Oviedo on September 25.

This is the most recent blow to a list of Barcelona absentees such as Robert Lewandowski, Gavi, Dani Olmo, Joan Garcia, and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen who are all unavailable to take the trip to Bernabeu. The boutique of defenders Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen is questionable and Hansi Flick as a manager is left with not many options available to him. Making the situation even more difficult, Flick himself will not be present in the touchline since he failed to overturn a red card, and the responsibility of speaking to the press and making tactical choices on the day will be passed over to an assistant coach Marcus Sorg.

This is the first Clasico of the season with Real Madrid on top of La Liga by two points thus making the title race very important. As Barcelona is already facing injury problems, the result of the match might be put to the test on the championship position.

In the future, the Catalan club will experience Elche, Club Brugges and Celta Vigo, and then the football will be halted by an international break. Though Raphinha cannot be accurately confirmed of his return date, experts opine that he might need several more weeks before he gets back as clubs are very cautious when it comes to hamstringers to prevent a repeat occurrence. The fans will be left waiting because Barcelona struggles to find the balance between the necessity to defend their star winger and the situation when a challenging schedule is involved.