Barcelona are not overly dependent on Lionel Messi for inspiration with the quality of players they have in their ranks, feels former Real Madrid defender Ivan Campo.
With Real Madrid set to host the Blaugrana on Saturday for the much-awaited El Clasico, Campo feels that it will be an exciting game but warned that not many teams can stop the Barcelona team in full flow.
He also felt that Real Madrid need to win Saturday's game and then take it from there if they are to catch Barcelona who are 11 points clear of them, albeit having played an extra game.
"Every game can be different. Barcelona play fantastic football but Real Madrid has just come back from winning the FIFA Club World Cup and the game on Saturday will be very exciting," said Campo to Goal during an exclusive chat in Kuala Lumpur as part of La Liga's partnership with Football Malaysia Limited Liability Partnership (FMLLP). "The most important is to win this game then we'll see who is the champion in May.
"Barcelona have fantastic players - not only Messi and (Luis) Suarez. You have (Sergio) Busquets, (Ivan) Rakitic and my best player - Andres Iniesta. I think when Iniesta is in form, Barcelona normally wins.
"As a team when they are on form, they are hard to stop. Not only for Real Madrid but also for strong teams like Manchester United or Juventus."
The 43-year-old went on to defend Cristiano Ronaldo's form this season, which has not really matched the heights the Ballon d'Or winner set in the previous seasons.
"With Ronaldo, he's in a special moment now. You've seen him scoring 40-50 goals a season and winning trophies for years.
"But it's very difficult for any forward to keep being at the top level. He's still playing good but it's normal for players to have varying levels from season to season."
Campo, who spent five years on the books at Real Madrid, stated that Real Madrid captain Sergio Ramos cannot be criticised for picking up bookings often.
"Sometimes we can control situations on the pitch but sometimes you can't. When you speak about Ramos and cards, it's normal. Sometimes you need to go in strong and you don't always get the timing right."
Campo emphatically stated that the El Clasico is without a doubt the best rivalry in world football with over 600 million fans expected to tune in to the game.
"This is the one (rivalry) with 600 million fans around the world and it's the best one. Others like Manchester United v Manchester City or Juventus v Torino are good but the best one is Real Madrid v Barcelona in La Liga."
He asserted that for any player, the first El Clasico is always special and recalled his favourite moment.
"When I played in my first one in Santiago Bernabeu, we won 2-1. That is a very special situation for me because it was a big game, watched by a lot of people around the world. The best moment for a player is the first El Clasico," he concluded.