Barcelona travel to the Bernabeu tomorrow (midday) to face their bitter rivals.
Paulinho has enjoyed an excellent season so far and grabbed a double against Deportivo La Coruna to take his tally in La Liga to six.
After failing to make the grade at Tottenham, the Brazilian was sold to Chinese Super League outfit Guangzhou Evergrande in 2015.
But Paulinho, who joined Barca for £36.4million over the summer, has shown what he is really capable of.
And he has sent a message to his critics.
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Paulinho says he is not past his best
I don't play for the critics, I play for my team-mates
Paulinho
“I’ve heard that said many times that I'm supposed to be shutting people up but people are going to say what they want and all I can do is keep working.
“People are always going to talk. They'll say: ‘He's good now because he is at Barca’. Or ‘He was only good then because he was in China’.
“I don't have to prove anything to anyone.
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Paulinho and co. will be hoping to ruin Real Madrid's day
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“I don't play for the critics, I play for my team-mates.”
Barca are six points clear of Atletico Madrid at the top of La Liga table.