‘Attractive to see’: Real Madrid legend hesitantly hails Barcelona as the better team at the moment | OneFootball

The past season has been difficult for Real Madrid as an institution, both in a sporting sense and in terms of the internal tensions that have built up.

Trophy-less for two seasons now, it is clear that the club is experiencing one of its most difficult periods in recent history and it is reflected in the fact that not a single Real Madrid player has been called up for the Spain squad for the FIFA World Cup.

Barcelona, meanwhile, are flying high through the same period where Real Madrid are experiencing unforeseen misery. They have eight players in the national team, have won back-to-back league titles, and look set to dominate with a brilliant young core.

Guti speaks on Barcelona and Real Madrid

Real Madrid legend Guti was asked about what he made of Real Madrid and Barcelona’s current situations in a recent interaction with Iker Casillas. He began by giving his unfiltered thoughts on Real Madrid’s current situation saying (h/t Mundo Deportivo),

“[It is] very irregular. [They have] great players, but there is a lack of a team,” he added.

Admitting that his statement will anger many fans, Guti then praised Barcelona as the clearly better team.

“Barça are the most attractive to see.”

Guti believes Barcelona are better than Real Madrid. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

The legend also compared Barcelona’s La Masia to Real Madrid’s La Fabrica and admitted he was jealous of how the Catalans provided importance to academy prospects while Real Madrid continue to turn a blind eye.

“The Madrid academy is not given the affection it needs. They prefer to spend a lot of money on players from outside.”

“As a Madrid fan, I would like to see more people from the academy. Barça bet more on the academy. They make me jealous.”

He also praised Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal and Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr. as the last of a kind of exciting players who do more than what the game mechanically demands.

“Now players have become robots, not players. Freedom is being deprived in the academies. There are no more creative players.”

“That’s why we like Lamine or Vinicius so much. You have to let them play for the love of football,” he added.

On Xabi Alonso and the lack of Spanish nationals

The former Real Madrid player was then asked what he thought of Xabi Alonso being sacked midway through his first season at the club despite not having very poor results.

“For me, it was a surprise. It was not a bet of five months or a year. He was a coach for the future.”

Guti surprised by Alonso’s sacking. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

“Something strange happened in the locker room so that they ended up throwing it out. He was doing very well,” he added.

Finally, Guti was asked about Real Madrid’s lack of quality Spanish national players and how the Spain World Cup squad does not have a single player from the club.

“I wish there were more because they [Spanish nationals] make the group stronger. It’s one of the things that has been lost.”

“When you enter a locker room and there are players from all over the world it is difficult to make a group,” he added.