Ex Madrid star Breitner says Real Madrid don't have a squad which can compete with Barcelona
Former Los Blancos star Paul Breitner has said that Barcelona hold the edge over Real Madrid because of their amazing front three of Messi, Neymar and Suarez. He also said that the three of them were equivalent to having three "Ronaldos" in the team making it an almost impossible task for Real Madrid.
Breitner told Omnisport, "Real Madrid is busy benchmarking itself against Barcelona. But it seems like they don't have a squad which can compete with Barcelona's squad.
"Maybe their game is too focused on Cristiano Ronaldo, that the players internalise that they have to give the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo because he is the guaranteed goal-scorer. This can paralyse you, impede you.
"You have the ball in defence and no matter what, no matter how sooner or later, you have to try and involve Cristiano Ronaldo.
"This can make things easy for the rival, or easier. Against Barcelona it's different - they have three Ronaldos.
"And I don't want to get on the wrong side of anyone at Real Madrid, but maybe that's the reason why the pace goes up and down again and again."
The Clasico at the Bernabeu in November ended up in a 4-0 defeat for Real Madrid and Breitner suggested that the result actually portrayed the difference in quality between the two teams.
"If I lose and then say 'oh that was unlucky', I am lying to myself," the former Bayern Munich man added.
"I have to check if I made mistakes and which mistakes I made, just for the record. Since my time, the significance of the rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona hasn't changed at all - you have to be ahead of the other one.
"If you end up eighth and the other ninth it was a successful season. That means if Real Madrid ends this season eighth in the standings and Barcelona finish ninth - that's good by all means! And the same vice-versa.
"It's so much the worse if the distance is as big as it is right now and you know you yourself can't influence things anymore. It's not in your hands anymore to turn this situation around.
"And it doesn't matter at all if maybe Atletico Madrid wins the championship in the end because neither Real Madrid nor Barcelona depend on Atletico. Like I said, they just depend on each other."
Real Madrid would have won the La Liga if they had 11 Ronaldos – Breitner
Despite Ronaldo's best efforts - the prolific Portuguese having scored 41 goals in just 38 appearances in all competitions this term - Barca head into Saturday's Clasico clash with Madrid 10 points clear of their arch-rivals in the Liga standings.
Ronaldo hit the headlines recently by suggesting that Madrid would be top of the table if his team-mates were as good as him, and that is a sentiment World Cup winner Breitner agrees with.
Breitner said:
"If every player had the same level as him, Real Madrid would be 30 points ahead in the Spanish championship!
"That's inconceivable! You can't have 11 Messis, 11 Ronaldos on the pitch. All on their level? No!"
The Clasico on Saturday will definitely be a match to remember.