Real Madrid sweating over Thibaut Courtois fitness ahead of El Clasico with Barcelona in La Liga

Real Madrid keeper Thibaut Courtois is a doubt for El Clasico later this month after the Belgian picked up an injury.

Courtois will miss Sunday night’s La Liga game at home to Osasuna with the club confirming he has been diagnosed with “left sciatica”, a pain caused when the nerve running down from the lower back to the feet is irritated or compressed.

With their crunch match with Barcelona on October 16 now just a fortnight away, Los Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti will now be sweating over Courtois’ fitness.

Andriy Lunin looks set to take Courtois’ place in goal for Sunday’s match against Osasuna. The Ukrainian kept two clean sheets for his country during the recent international break.

Los Blancos host Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League on Wednesday before a visit to Getafe in league action the following Saturday October 8.

Despite winning all six of their league games so far this season, Real Madrid are second to Barcelona, a point behind their great rivals having played a game less.