As El Clasico draws ever closer, Real Madrid wing-back Marcelo has dismissed the notion that his team must always be put side by side with Barcelona when it comes to their performances.
While the young Br azilian does not deny that the Blaugrana are playing some of the most delightful football, he believes that Los Merengues have their own strong suits.
“The encounter will be very difficult, as it is with all Clasicos. What I can say is that this is a game that every footballer dreams of playing since they were young. This is the most heated Clasico in the world,” he said in an interview with AS.
“We do not have to compare ourselves to Barca. All we need to do is to keep on winning. It doesn’t matter that we’re not playing nice football, although it is understandable that the fans demand that we play better. But sometimes, it just can’t happen.
“Physically we are better now than we were before and we showed that against Getafe . It’s not that we were weak before, but we’re just stronger now. In any case, we always give everything that we have "
“Barca will be tired because of the Champions League, that is obvious. But they still have a very complete team and on Saturday, they will make it very difficult for us to beat them.”
Marcelo then assessed an opponent who could become his personal rival this weekend: his compatriot, Dani Alves.
“I was just talking to [Fabio] Cannavaro about him on Monday. Dani has been playing at a very high level for a very long time,” he said.
“He defends, he attacks, he delivers crosses and with the ball at his feet, he is very good. At the moment, he is the best right-back in the world.”
Finally, the 20-year-old hailed his own superstar team-mate, Raul, after the captain netted a hat-trick last weekend against Sevilla.
“I have always said and I am going to keep saying, Raul is an example for everyone. It’s not necessary for me to praise him because the fans can see for themselves how incredible he is infront of goal," he said.
“To score a hat-trick the way he did in our last game against Sevilla… I have no words to describe it "
“But what really impresses me more is his humility. He is always talking to us and sympathetic to everything that happens around us. He is like an older brother."
“For me, I do not like reading certain things that have been said about him because he is an example to all. He’s simply a phenomenon.”
El Clasico will kick-off at 20:00 CET this Saturday.