Thibaut Courtois health news: Real Madrid keeper ruled out of El Clásico with flu as Lunin steps in

Thibaut Courtois in a Belgium shirt
Photo: Bryan Berlin, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Real Madrid were forced into a late change of goalkeeper for El Clásico. The club confirmed in an official statement on Sunday afternoon, hours before kick-off at Camp Nou, that first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois would miss the La Liga match against Barcelona after coming down with flu. Andriy Lunin started in his place — and Madrid still won the biggest game of their season so far, beating Barcelona 2-1 to cut the gap at the top of La Liga to three points.

What Real Madrid said

The announcement came as a genuine late blow: Courtois had been expected to start, and the news broke only a few hours before the match. In its official statement, Real Madrid said Courtois was a last-minute withdrawal due to a bout of the flu, and that young Ukrainian goalkeeper Illia Voloshyn had been called up to the squad in his place. Voloshyn, 19, took a place on the bench at Camp Nou; the starting gloves went to Lunin, Madrid's established deputy goalkeeper.

Notably, the club's statement said nothing about how long Courtois will be out. There was no timescale, no mention of a return match, and no suggestion of anything more serious than flu. That matters for supporters searching for a return date: as things stand, there is no official one, and any date circulating elsewhere is guesswork rather than club information.

How the night played out

The match itself, played on Sunday 25 October 2026 at Spotify Camp Nou, followed a dramatic script. Kylian Mbappé put Real Madrid ahead in the 41st minute, Raphinha equalised for Barcelona on 61 minutes, and Mbappé struck again in the 87th minute to win it. Full details, including the lineups and every goal, card and substitution, are on the Barcelona vs Real Madrid match page.

The result reshapes the early title race. Barcelona had arrived at El Clásico with nine wins from nine league matches and 27 points, six clear of third-placed Madrid. The defeat leaves Barcelona still top on 27 points, but now only three ahead of Real Madrid on 24, with Atlético Madrid between them on 25 after ten rounds of fixtures. A Madrid defeat would have left them nine points adrift; instead, the gap is three, and the title race is wide open again.

Madrid's win is all the more striking given the absences they were already carrying. Vinícius Júnior was unavailable through a domestic suspension, so the visitors arrived at Camp Nou without their first-choice goalkeeper and one of their star forwards — and still left with all three points.

Why losing Courtois mattered

Courtois, 34, is not just Madrid's goalkeeper but one of the most experienced big-game players in the squad: Belgium's long-time number one and a goalkeeper who has decided major finals before. Losing a player like that hours before kick-off disrupts more than the team sheet — the defensive unit prepares all week around a particular goalkeeper's habits, his command of the penalty area and his distribution, and a late switch forces everyone to adjust on the day.

That said, Lunin is no emergency stopgap. The Ukrainian has been Madrid's second-choice goalkeeper for years and has stood in for Courtois before, so the change, while unwelcome, was one the squad was prepared for. The fact that Madrid won anyway says something about their depth — but it does not erase the disruption, and it does not answer the question every Madrid supporter is now asking: when does Courtois come back?

What happens next — and what is not yet known

For now, the honest answer is that nobody outside the club knows. Real Madrid have confirmed only that Courtois missed El Clásico with flu; they have not said whether he will be available for their next fixtures, and flu, unlike a muscle injury, comes with no scan result or rehabilitation schedule to read a timescale from. Supporters should treat any claimed return date as unconfirmed until the club itself gives an update.

What is confirmed is the sequence of events: a late official announcement on Sunday, Voloshyn called into the squad, Lunin starting at Camp Nou, and a 2-1 win built on Mbappé's brace. ScorePulse will update this story when Real Madrid give their next official word on Courtois.

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Weekend Roundup — 25 October 2026

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