Football
ESPN staff 7y

Gareth Bale starts for Real Madrid vs. Barca; Paco Alcacer replaces Neymar

Gareth Bale has returned to the Real Madrid starting XI for Sunday's Clasico, while Paco Alcacer has been picked to replace the suspended Neymar for Barcelona.

Bale had stepped up his bid to return from injury earlier in the week. The Wales international suffered a calf problem in the Champions League win at Bayern Munich earlier this month and did not feature in either the Liga win at Sporting Gijon or the second leg against Bayern.

The former Tottenham star will be joined by Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo in the Real attack.

Meanwhile, after two days of uncertainty, Barcelona finally decided against calling up Neymar for the match earlier on Sunday and selected reserve forward Alcacer to take his place.

Barca had lodged an appeal against Neymar's three-game ban to Spain's Court of Arbitration for Sport [TAD] on Friday, believing that until there's a resolution, the ban should be suspended.

TAD had hoped to call an extraordinary meeting to deal with the case on Saturday but was unable to do so. However, it released a statement saying the ban was immediately enforceable and suggested Barca would be sanctioned for playing an ineligible team if they picked the Brazilian at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Alcacer will partner with stalwarts Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez in the Barca front line.

Full starting XIs:

Real Madrid XI: Navas, Carvajal, Ramos, Nacho, Marcelo, Casemiro, Kroos, Modric, Bale, Benzema, Ronaldo

Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen, S. Roberto, Umtiti, Pique, Alba, Busquets, Rakitic, Iniesta, Alcacer, Messi, Suarez

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