Barcelona v Real Madrid: Rafinha preferred to Dembele, Marcelo fit to start
Barca captain Messi broke his arm in last week's win over Sevilla and, with Cristiano Ronaldo having departed Madrid, the biggest domestic club game in European football has been given a very different complexion.
That sees Rafinha, who started and scored against former club Inter in the Champions League, keeping his place and supporting Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez in attack.
Dembele replaced Messi against Sevilla, but there is no room for the France international in the side as he waits to make his Clasico bow.
Barça XI#ElClásico
FORÇA BARÇA! pic.twitter.com/hezAoClY0A
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 28, 2018
While Barca line up with the same team that defeated Inter 2-0, there are two changes to the Madrid side that scraped past Viktoria Plzen in midweek.
Thibaut Courtois and Raphael Varane come back in, with Keylor Navas and Lucas Vazquez making way, while Marcelo is fit to start.
The Brazil defender left the field late in Tuesday's 2-1 triumph with a knock as Madrid ended the game with 10 men.
Nuestro once inicial para el #RMClasico. | #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/Q6S7YLa4IM— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) October 28, 2018