on Sunday’s El Clasico, former Real Madrid playmaker and club legend Mesut Ozil took aim at Barcelona in an exclusive interview with MARCA.
Sunday’s match between Real Madrid and Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu would virtually guarantee the capital team’s crowning as the new La Liga champions.
Ozil claims Barcelona is no longer relevant.
Mesut Ozil asserted in the interview that Barcelona’s recent collapse has diminished the intensity of competition in the El Clasico rivalry.
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At that time it was the most important match in world football. Unfortunately for us, Pep’s Barça was perhaps the best Barça in history. It was at another level, certainly different from today’s Barça,” he said.
“I think that right now worldwide attention is more focused on games like Liverpool-Manchester City or other Premier League duels. Here I think the Clásico has gone down and that’s a shame.”
“But that’s not Real Madrid’s fault, as they are undoubtedly one of the best teams in the world. The problem is Barça, who have lost potential,” Ozil added.
In reference to prior remarks made by Xavi and Joan Laporta, Ozil stated that Real Madrid is the favorite going into Sunday’s Clasico before asserting that Barcelona needs to take a closer look at themselves instead of constantly criticizing the referees.
“Barcelona is trying, but they are having difficulty. They have talented players at every position, but they have suffered from too many injuries this year. Perhaps they should take a closer look at their own errors and infractions and cease always criticizing the referees, he said.
The former German international then added that the rivalry between Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona and Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid was the pinnacle of football, saying:
“I would say yes. Even today many fans still miss that era, the pinnacle of football.”
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