Four players out of contention: Real Madrid announce Clasico squad

Vinícius leads Real Madrid's absentees in the most important test

José Mourinho has named his Real Madrid squad for El Clásico against Barcelona in the tenth round of the Spanish league. Los Blancos head into the fixture short of several key men, with Brazilian Vinícius Júnior suspended and three others nursing injuries.

Vinícius tops the list. The forward is still serving his ban, ruling him out of one of the biggest games of the season, though his absence has nothing to do with any physical issue.

The Brazilian winger is sitting out the second of four suspension matches handed down by the competitions committee. Two of those came for pulling Saliba's hair during the clash with Villarreal, with a further two added for his protests afterwards.

Spain's football federation appeals committee upheld the sanction, which pushes the player's La Liga return back to late November.

Beyond Vinícius, Mourinho must also do without Rodrygo and Raúl Asencio, both still working their way back from injury. Ferland Mendy misses out too, despite training with the group on more than one occasion.

Real Madrid's squad for the match against Barcelona

Goalkeepers: Thibaut Courtois, Andriy Lunin, Mestre.

Defence: Éder Militão, Dean Huijsen, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Konaté, Cucurella, Álvaro Carreras, Antonio Rüdiger, Dumfries.

Midfield: Jude Bellingham, Eduardo Camavinga, Federico Valverde, Aurélien Tchouaméni, Arda Güler, Bernardo, Thiago.

Attack: Endrick, Kylian Mbappé, Carlos Espí, Brahim Díaz, Yan Diomande.