Real Madrid will start tonight's game against FC Barcelona 11 points behind the league leaders, and anything less than a win at the Camp Nou will mathematically end their faint hope of winning La Liga this season.

This will be new manager Alvaro Arbeloa's first Clasico in charge of Los Blancos, following the defeat against Barca back in January this year in the final of the Spanish Super Cup. Xabi Alonso was relieved of his duties after a series of poor results.

Now under Arbeloa, things haven't really changed at all; the current situation seems far worse than it was under Alonso a few months back. Los Merengues are now looking at another season without winning any major trophy, with only four games left to play this season.

There is no denying the fact that something is not right inside the Madrid dressing room, as the recent training ground clash between Aurelien Tchouameni and Fede Valverde seems to be only the tip of the iceberg.

Also adding salt to their wounds, injuries to some of their top players in crucial phases of the season, made it even worse, as even during the closing phases of the campaign, things aren't getting any better.

According to the official squad released by Real Madrid for tonight's El Clasico, their top goalscorer, Kylian Mbappe, will not travel with the team to Catalonia.

Earlier, it was thought that the Frenchman would recover in time for the crucial fixture as he was back training with the squad at Valdebebas, but as it stands, Los Blancos have decided to leave him out of a game where they will need to win at all costs in order to stay in the title race at least for another week.

Apparently, the Whites could be looking at a more cautious approach with Mbappe, as the World Cup is now only a month away, and both the player and the club will definitely not like to hamper his dreams of lifting the prestigious trophy for a second time in his career.

Despite being the top scorer of the club this season, Mbappe has faced a lot of heat over the past few months as a major portion of the Madrid fans have held the 27-year-old responsible for Los Blancos' recent downfall, and if a Mbappe-less Real Madrid emerges victorious after the final whistle tonight, the backlash from the fans could even get further intensified in the coming days.

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