Guti highlighted that Barcelona was much more than just Lionel Messi.
Speaking in a post-training press conference today, Real Madrid midfielder Jose Maria Gutierrez 'Guti' addressed questions about Saturday's El Clasico match against Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu.
In comments reported by AS, Guti first praised Barcelona's Lionel Messi after his four-goal performance against Arsenal last night in the Champions League.
"He did not need to score four goals for us to know who Messi is. He is a figure of world football and demonstrates it in every match. He is Barca's most important player but if you ask Guardiola about Cristiano Ronaldo, I am sure he will tell you the same. We need to have a strategy that is anti-Barca not only anti-Messi."
Guti also declared that he could not recall a Clasico in which both teams were equal on points and nearly even on goals, but emphasised that he felt his side had an advantage playing in front of their own supporters.
"Real Madrid are always favourites when we play at home. This year, we are at Barca's level of play. There is a difference in the team with respect to last year. They have mostly the same squad, but we have signed eight or nine players of the highest quality."
Commenting on some of the things that would be necessary to be successful in the match, Guti harped upon the importance of scoring the first goal of the game.
"We need to start the match very focused and trying to score early because Barca are a very difficult team to play when they score against you first. It is very important that we do not allow them to score first because once they go ahead, they know how to maintain very long spells of possession.
"We are very motivated, we know it will be difficult, but we have options. In the match at Barcelona, they were not superior by much and we can make things very difficult for them."
However, Guti did not want to overemphasise the importance of El Clasico.
"It is true that there are a lot of matches left and difficult games for both sides, but this match will be a big injection of morale, above all for us as we would recover the disadvantage of the Clasico earlier this season."
Finally, Guti declared that he felt fit, in fine form, and that "at 33 years old, I have to demonstrate that I can play a full 90 minutes."
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