Lionel Messi: Pundits look back at Barcelona debut 15 years ago
Lionel Messi believes Real Madrid have found it tough to replace Cristiano Ronaldo. The Barcelona star is primed to play against Los Blancos in El Clasico on Wednesday night.
Messi will be aiming to give Barcelona breathing space at the top of the La Liga table, with the club currently level on points with Real Madrid at the summit.
The two teams meet in what promises to be a fascinating showdown, having both amassed 35 points from their 16 league matches so far.
Games between Barcelona and Real Madrid have had a slightly different feel since the exit of Cristiano Ronaldo to Juventus back in the summer of 2018.
Ronaldo and Messi had a blockbuster rivalry when both players played in Spain.
And, speaking to Marca, the Barcelona star admitted he thought Real Madrid had found it tough to replace the Portugal international.
Lionel Messi: Barcelona star has opened up on Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid exit (Image: GETTY)
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The Catalan giants have won on their last four visits to the Spanish capital, including a 3-0 thumping in the Copa del Rey last year.
And Messi believes Barcelona are able to beat Real away from home because Los Blancos' desire to attack means they leave themselves vulnerable.
"When we play at the Bernabeu, many more spaces are generated," he said.
"They attack us more because they have the obligation as the host team and people push them for that.
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"At the Camp Nou, they play another type of match, sitting a little further back, they are closer together and hit on the counter-attack because they have very fast players upfront.
"At the Bernabeu, we play 90 minutes equally. Here the game becomes more locked and is more complicated."
In their previous game, Barcelona drew 2-2 with Real Sociedad.
And Real Madrid were also forced to settle for a point, with Karim Benzema scoring at the death against Valencia in their showdown at the Mestalla.