BARCELONA SPORTING DIRECTOR Andoni Zubizarreta says beating Real Madrid is of far greater importance than Lionel Messi becoming La Liga’s all-time top scorer.
The Argentina star moved to within one goal of Telmo Zarra’s record of 251 strikes with his 250th league goal for Barca in the 3-0 win over Eibar on Saturday, meaning he could surpass that haul against Madrid.
But with four points separating the arch-rivals at the top of the table, Luis Enrique’s side have the chance to open up a sizeable gap at the top when they travel to the Bernabeu, a point Zubizarreta was keen to stress.
He said: “I would like to win in the Bernabeu and for that to happen we must score goals. But it must not be seen as essential that Messi exceeds Zarra’s record at the Bernabeu. Leo must play to win, not to beat a record.”
Assessing the 27-year-old’s showing against Eibar, he added: “When the game opens up it creates more opportunities for attacking players. As we’ve seen him do so many times before, he scored another important goal.”
Sunday’s trip to Madrid could also see Luis Suarez make his long awaited return from a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini while playing for Uruguay at the World Cup.
His suspension finishes at midnight on October 25, meaning he is eligible to feature, though Zubizarreta was non committal over whether Enrique will opt to throw him straight into his starting XI.
“Hopefully everyone is fit and healthy in the squad and then it is up to the coach to make a decision based purely from a footballing point of view.”
Before that much anticipated clash, Barca first host Ajax in the Champions League at Camp Nou on Tuesday night as they look to bounce back from their defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.
