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Ahead of the highly anticipated El Clasico on December 19, Barcelona captain Lionel Messi has made an interesting comment about the fixture. The forward claimed that Blaugrana find it easier to score goals at Santiago Bernabeu against Real Madrid than at the Camp Nou.
In an interview for MARCA, Messi discussed as to why his team tend to perform better at their rival's arena than in front of their own fans. He has said that the game is usually more open at their rivals' ground, as Los Blancos have to play an aggressively in front of their fans.
Messi, who is the all-time top scorer and the top assist provider in this historical fixture will equal Barca legend Xavi's record of most appearances in the Clasico for the club, as the midweek fixture will be his 42nd appearance in this duel.
Also read: Top 5 performances in El Clasico history
Madrid play a different kind of football at the Camp Nou - Messi
Though, Barca thrashed Madrid 5-1 at the Camp Nou last year, that too in absence of Messi, the Argentine believes it is at the Bernabeu that both the teams play as equals, as opposed to the Camp Nou where the visitors are more cautious and games tend to become locked and complicated. He told Marca:
"When we play at the Bernabeu, many more spaces are generated. They attack us more because they have the obligation as the host team and people push them for that."
"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."
Regardless of the venue, the Catalans have been the dominant side in the fixture in the last few years and have played the better football. So, will they continue their dominance in the fixture with a win to cement their place at the top of LaLiga table heading into the new year? We'll find out on December 19th.
Also See: LaLiga, Barcelona transfer news
