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Barcelona face Real Madrid as LaLiga leaders on Sunday but their build-up to the game could hardly have been worse. All but eliminated from the Champions League, suffering from a spate of injuries, they will likely go into the match as underdogs.
One of the factors that could give Barcelona a large boost is the return of Jules Kounde. The French defender has been missing from the side since the end of September when he suffered an injury on international duty.
However, he returned to training on Thursday and many are expecting him to start El Clasico on Sunday.
Speaking in his pre-match press conference on the matter, Barcelona manager Xavi Hernandez confirmed he would be available.
“Jules Kounde is fine, he is at 100%, happy and in good shape physically. He has trained hard and he is available. We will see tomorrow [if he starts].”
In previous Clasicos Xavi has opted to use Ronald Araujo as a right-back in order to help tackle the threat of Vinicius Junior on the right side. So far this season Kounde has been used mostly as a right-back and many assume that will continue to be the case if he is selected to start.