Real Madrid superstar hailed as ‘world-class’ by Barcelona midfielder ahead of Clasico | OneFootball

Real Madrid will host arch-rivals FC Barcelona in the first El Clasico of the 2024/25 season on Saturday at the Santiago Bernabeu.

It will be a monumental clash between two top teams in La Liga and leading up to the much-anticipated clash, players from both sides have been granting interviews to media channels.

In one such chat with beIN SPORTS, Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong lavished praise on Real Madrid megastar Vinicius Jr., hailing him as a ‘world-class’ player, while stating that the Catalans would need to work as a team to stop him.

“We’ll see, we’ll see. We need to stop him as a team, but he’s a fantastic player. He’s performing really well. Last season he had an amazing season. This season so far he’s performing brilliantly,” said the Barcelona captain.

“I think he’s a world-class player with high quality. We need to be careful with him, but they have many other fantastic players.”

World-class. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Vinicius goes into the game high on confidence after scoring a scintillating hat-trick to inspire Real Madrid to a 5-2 win over Borussia Dortmund earlier this week in the UEFA Champions League.

However, while the Brazilian appears to be in good nick, Real Madrid, as a whole, have been far from their best in the ongoing campaign.

Speaking about Real Madrid’s form heading into tomorrow’s clash, De Jong insisted that the reigning champions are still a threat despite having had some ups and downs this season.

“I think Madrid are a fantastic team. They’re one of the best teams in the world. They have very good players as a team. We’re also a fantastic team. We’re doing well. So, I think the match will be really exciting,” said De Jong.