Barcelona midfielder Pedri won't make Sunday's Clasico vs. Madrid

Bad news for Barcelona. Save a late surprise, Pedri will miss the Clasico on Sunday. The midfielder will not recover in time to face Real Madrid, so Ronald Koeman will have to look for solutions elsewhere.

Pedri was injured in the game against Benfica before the international break in the same area of the thigh where he'd got injured against Bayern Munich. The relapse set the alarm bells ringing. While after the first injury, the aim was to return as soon as possible, this time the approach has been different. The coaching staff don't want to take risks as the consequences could be much worse.

With four days to go until the Clasico, Pedri's still not doing ball work, so he's not on track to make the squad for the game. He is still training alone, doing fitness work. It's not ruled out that he steps up his recovery on Thursday or Friday, but not with the Clasico in mind. In fact, at this stage, his most likely return date will be against Alaves on Oct. 30 at Camp Nou, not even at Rayo Vallecano next Wednesday.

Ronald Araujo will also miss the Clasico on Sunday. The defender injured his hamstring on international duty with Uruguay and is not yet back in full training. Martin Braithwaite and Ousmane Dembele are also currently out injured for Barça.