Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos returns to training ahead of El Clasico friendly with Barcelona

Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos has given Zinedine Zidane a major boost ahead of the upcoming match against Barcelona by returning to training with the rest of his teammates. The Spanish international has missed the consecutive defeats to Manchester United and Manchester City due to a fitness problem but looks in line to come back for the 'friendly' El Clásico to be played in Miami on Saturday (29 July).

The experience of the 31-year-old captain in the heart of the back-line has been badly missed by Los Blancos in the first two games of Los Blancos' pre-season. The Champions League and La Liga holders lost to Jose Mourinho's side on penalties before suffering a surprising 4-1 defeat to Manchester City on Thursday in the International Champions Cup.

Central defenders Raphael Varane and Nacho have failed to cope without their captain in both friendlies, with Zidane also missing Pepe following the Portugal's international summer departure to Besiktas as a free-agent.

But Ramos could be available to help his side when Los Blancos face Barcelona in Miami on Saturday after the club confirmed that the defender is back in training.

"Following on from the second outing of their pre-season tour, in which they came up against Manchester City, the Real Madrid squad returned to training, in a session that saw Sergio Ramos re-join the rest of the group," Real Madrid confirmed on their website.

"Zinedine Zidane's charges completed their final session at the UCLA campus, which is where they've been training during this, the first part of their pre-season tour. The next stop on the European champions' journey is Miami, where they will continue their fine-tuning as they pit their wits against Barcelona in El Clásico at the Hard Rock Stadium (Saturday 8pm local time; 2am CEST on Sunday)."

Cristiano Ronaldo, however, will still miss the game with Lionel Messi and co as the Ballon D'or remains on holidays following his participation in the Confederations Cup with Portugal.

The upcoming El Clásico is only a friendly but has sparked a lot of expectations in Spain following Real Madrid's two defeats against United and City. Furthermore, Los Blancos and Barcelona will soon face each other again in the two-legged Spanish Super Cup to be play on 13 and 16 August.