With El Clásico looming on Sunday, the only good news for Real Madrid at the present is the absence of Lionel Messi. Yes, Real climbed to the top of Champions League Group G on Tuesday after narrowly defeating Czech First League side Plzeň 2-1 at the Santiago Bernabeu, but you could easily argue that Los Blancos looked better during last weekend’s shock 2-1 defeat to Levante.

With Real Madrid mired in a five-match winless streak and displaying historic levels of ineptitude at the attacking end, manager Julen Lopetegui is being framed as a dead man walking.

Real Madrid Castilla (the club’s reserve team) kept up its fine start to Segunda División B Group 1 play with a 1-1 away draw to Celta Vigo B on Sunday. 18-year-old Brazilian phenom Vinícius Júnior scored his fourth goal in five appearances for the team, but any hopes of being involved in next Sunday’s El Clásico at the Camp Nou were dashed when he was sent off for diving shortly after.

FC Barcelona has updated the world on the severity of the arm injury which forced Lionel Messi off in the 26th minute of the club’s 4-2 victory over Sevilla on Saturday, and it’s terrible news for fans of the beautiful game: Messi has fractured the radial bone in his right arm and will be out for three weeks. 

Accordingly, Barca’s captain will miss Wednesday’s Champions League match against Inter Milan and, most notably, next Sunday’s El Clásico at the Camp Nou. 

Lionel Messi did what Lionel Messi does 12 minutes into Barcelona’s match against Sevilla on Saturday. Then he did something uncharacteristic for the prolific Argentine: he got hurt.

In a scary moment for Barça fans, Messi was taken off with an apparent arm injury after an awkward fall in the 16th minute, moments after he scored his 12th goal of the season. He was eventually taken off in the 26th minute, unable to continue, a rare injury for a player who has averaged more than 52 appearances per season the last 10 years.

Before the international break, the Real Madrid scoreless streak reached near unprecedented levels. Los Blancos finally scored on Saturday on their return to the Bernabeu, but it wasn’t nearly enough as Levante defeated the Madristas 2-1 in LaLiga action.

On Tuesday, Oct. 23, Cristiano Ronaldo will return to Old Trafford for only the second time since making his 2009 then-world-record-transfer of nearly $110 million to the Santiago Bernabéu.

Ronaldo has played against Manchester United in three competitive matches over the following period — the 2012-13 Champions League Round of 16 and a brief, seven-minute cameo during the 2017 UEFA Super Cup in Macedonia.