Confirmed: Real Madrid Without Thibaut Courtois for El Clasico Against Barcelona

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will miss tonight's El Clasico clash with Barcelona (22:00) after being struck down by illness. The Belgian shot-stopper remains in Madrid and will not travel to Catalonia, concluding a five-hour spell of uncertainty that brought a rollercoaster of emotions for the club, the fans, and the player himself.

Courtois woke up feeling severely unwell this morning, and despite lingering hopes of a swift recovery, his participation was ultimately ruled out. Andriy Lunin will take his place in goal at Camp Nou, with Mestre stepping up as second choice and Real Madrid C goalkeeper Voloshyn named as the third option in the matchday squad. This will mark the Ukrainian's first minutes of the season and his fifth career El Clasico appearance.

Courtois has been sidelined by a severe case of the flu rather than minor physical discomfort. Although Madrid's regular number one trained as normal yesterday, his condition deteriorated later in the afternoon, with the overnight prognosis taking a distinctly pessimistic turn. Just before 11:00 AM, the club made the final decision that he was in no condition to board the plane and play.

Initial reports regarding Courtois' condition sparked widespread concern among supporters over the loss of a pivotal figure. An hour later, a glimmer of hope emerged from Valdebebas when the club decided to hold off until the final moment, hoping that an extraordinarily rapid recovery might allow the goalkeeper to catch a later flight to Barcelona and feature.

Despite showing slight signs of improvement, the Belgian remained far from the level required to feature in a match of this magnitude, prompting the final decision to withdraw him. This will be the first fixture Courtois misses this campaign, having played every single minute (1,080 minutes across 12 matches) while keeping clean sheets against Malaga and Villarreal.