Midfielder Ilkay Gundogan is among several Barcelona players who have yet to be registered with LaLiga due to the club's breach of Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules, raising doubts about their participation in Sunday's season opener against Getafe.
Other than former Manchester City captain Gundogan, who joined on a free transfer in June, new signings Inigo Martinez, Ilkay Gundogan and Oriol Romeu have also not been registered.
Players such as Ronald Araujo, Marcos Alonso, Sergi Roberto and Inaki Pena, who signed new contracts, also remain unregistered.
That means the LaLiga champions have only 12 players available for their season debut.
Barca experienced the same situation last season, when they were blocked by the strict LaLiga financial regulations to register new signings such as Robert Lewandowski, Franck Kessie, Andreas Christensen and Raphinha. They were eventually registered on the eve of Barca's season opener after the club triggered a last minute economic operation.
Defender Jules Kounde, however, ended up missing several games as his formalities were not completed until the end of August.
Clubs have to meet LaLiga's salary cap to register new signings as well as those who sign contract renewals.
Last year Barcelona resorted to selling club assets as "economic levers" to create the margin they needed with LaLiga, as their debts totalled 1.35 billion euros ($1.49 billion).
They will not be able to play at Camp Nou for the next few seasons after agreeing a financing deal worth 1.45 billion euros to renovate the iconic but outdated stadium.
The 100,000-seater venue was the club's biggest source of income and they will have to be creative to stay competitive within the restrictions of LaLiga's FFP rules for the second season in a row.
Last year the club signed a shirt and stadium sponsorship deal with audio streaming platform Spotify (SPOT.N) in an agreement worth 280 million euros.
They also agreed to sell a 25% stake in their LaLiga TV rights for the next 25 years to US private equity group Sixth Street (TSLX.N) for 607.5 million euros and approved the sale of a minority share of their audio-visual division to Socios.com and Orpheus Media for 200 million.
It has been reported that they are trying to sell another percentage of their audio-visual division to generate the margin they need to meet LaLiga's salary cap numbers.
Real goalkeeper Courtois sidelined for several months with torn ACL
Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois will be sidelined for several months as he requires surgery after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee during Thursday's training session, the LaLiga club said.
The 31-year-old Belgian international left the practice field in tears and an MRI scan confirmed the ACL tear two days ahead of Real's LaLiga season debut at Athletic Bilbao.
"Following tests carried out on Thibaut Courtois, the player has been diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. The player will undergo surgery in the coming days," the club said in a statement.
The injury is a major blow for Real as they will have to make do without the services of one of their key players for the foreseeable future.
Courtois joined from Chelsea in 2018 after winning two Premier League titles, the FA Cup and the League Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge.
He was named Player-of-the-Match following the 2022 Champions League final after producing one of the greatest goalkeeping performances in an European Cup finale.
Courtois recorded nine saves to deny Liverpool in Paris, leading his club to a record extending 14th European title after a 1-0 win.
Real Madrid have only one other goalkeeper in their first team squad, Ukraine's Andriy Lunin.
The 24-year-old Lunin has made only nine Spanish league appearances for the club since signing from Zorya Luhansk in 2018. He spent his first two seasons in Spain on loan spells with Leganes, Valladolid and Oviedo.
Marcelo given three-match ban by CONMEBOL after causing horror injury
Fluminense's former Brazil international Marcelo has been handed a three-match ban by CONMEBOL after his lunge at Argentinos Juniors' Luciano Sanchez left the defender with a horrific injury in a Copa Libertadores clash in Buenos Aires last week.
The 35-year-old left-back will also have to pay a $6,000 fine, South American soccer's governing body added on Thursday.
Marcelo was dribbling towards Sanchez when his leading foot went past the ball and caught the Argentine high on the shin with force. The Argentinos player's leg buckled underneath him at a shocking angle, leaving him lying in agony on the pitch.
Sanchez left the pitch on a stretcher with what was later confirmed to be a fracture that the team doctor said he had "never seen before".
The ex-Real Madrid player was sent off in tears following the incident in the 1-1 draw in the last 16, first leg.
"Today I had a very difficult moment on the pitch," Marcelo posted on Instagram hours later.
"I unintentionally injured a fellow player. I want to wish him the best possible recovery. All the strength in the world."
Marcelo has already served the first game of his three-match ban by missing the second leg where the Brazilian side won 2-0.
