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Right-back: Sergi Roberto
Dani Carvajal has been in splendid form this season and would have made this XI, had he not been ruled out of Sunday's match with an injury.
Valverde has utilised both Roberto and Semedo at right-back this season, but the latter has mostly played only when the former is deployed in midfield. The 26-year-old Spaniard has been as reliable as ever this season.
Real Madrid went with Lucas Vasquez at right back against Plzen, but will mostly go for the safer option of Nacho against Barca.
Centre-back: Sergio Ramos
Both Real and Barca have struggled defensively this season, with Ramos and Pique receiving the brunt of the criticism.
Following a poor World Cup, Ramos took over Ronaldo's mantle as Real Madrid's talisman, and to be fair, a lot of the criticism against him has been unwarranted.
He was, however, caught out too many times in the Champions League this week, and the Clasico comes at an important stage of the season. Even though Messi is out of action, he'll have his hands full with Suarez and Coutinho.
Centre-back: Raphael Varane
Varane is on the back of an impressive showing at the World Cup in Russia, where he superbly marshalled a young French defence that kept 4 clean sheets on the way to the title.
His performances for Real Madrid haven't been as good though, but he marginally edges Gerard Pique out on stats. Clement Lenglet has also been impressive since Samuel Umtiti's injury, but the 23-year-old still doesn't quite have the experience of Varane.
With Lopetegui's job on the line, Varane will have to be at the top of his game on Sunday.
Left-back: Jordi Alba
It's close between Marcelo and Jordi Alba, but the Brazilian hasn't had as much game time as his Barca counterpart. Lopetegui has rotated him with Nacho at left-back.
Alba's link-up play with Messi is still crucial for the Catalans, but it's clear that he's no longer the player he once was. Barcelona are rumoured to be in the market for a backup left back in January. He did, however, score against Inter in midweek, and will go into the Clasico with a lot of confidence.
With Carvajal out injured for Real, Alba will be looking forward to causing problems for the Los Blancos on the left flank.
