Barcelona made a last-gasp bid to have star striker Neymar back for Sunday’s critical Clasico clash with an appeal to a Spanish sports court against his three-game ban.

As it stands the 25-year-old is set to miss the blockbuster showdown at the Santiago Bernabeu after being shown the first red card of his Barcelona career for two bookable offences in a 2-0 defeat at Malaga earlier this month that badly dented their hopes of retaining the Spanish title.

Suarez, Messi and Neymar

“With the Appeal Committee (Spanish federation) dismissing FC Barcelona’s appeal for the three-match suspension of Neymar Jr, the club will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (in Spain),” Barcelona said in a statement.

Neymar has already missed Barcelona’s 3-2 win over Real Sociedad and will also miss Wednesday’s game against Osasuna if the Spanish court (TAD) turns down the appeal.