Lionel Messi’s top three goals for Barcelona against Real Madrid

Real Madrid coach Rafa Benitez has revealed Karim Benzema is ready to face Barcelona in Saturday’s Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Argentinian forward Messi has been out of action since September 26 with a knee injury but the club’s all-time top scorer returned to training this week and is expected to travel with the squad for this season’s first “El Clasico”.

Authorities are promising unprecedented security measures because of what happened in France last week, but it remains unclear whether Barcelona’s Lionel Messi will be fit to play following a long injury layoff.

“He’s been feeling good since he came back”. He’s recovered and he’s in the group dynamic. “He trained well. We’ll decide if he plays or not”. We’ll need to wait a bit.

“We are playing the 12th game of the season”.

Moving from one team to the other has always been seen as an act of treason, as Luis Figo discovered in 2000 after a pig’s head was hurled onto the pitch at him during one El Clásico.

At the beginning of the season, many questioned if Neymar could catapult himself into the Ballon d’Or conversation and the Brazilian has responded, topping La Liga’s scoring charts with 11 goals in 10 appearances, including the exquisite effort above against Villarreal.

The reason is the form of Neymar and Luis Suarez, who have carried Barcelona to the top of the table while Messi has been sidelined. A Marca headline, “You saw it coming” after the Sevilla defeat, added even more spice to the fixture as the clock begins to tick despite just one defeat.

“Whether he plays or not is down to the coach, the medics and how he feels but he has been looking sharp in training”. “In our most recent games we have been consistent in every sense”.

“But we know that this won’t be an easy match, it never is”.

He tasted his first defeat at the club with a 3-2 loss to Sevilla before the global break, something of an awakening for him, but Saturday against Neymar could prove a proper baptism of fire, the like of which he has never experienced before. Out of 170 matchups between Real and Barcelona over the past 86 years, Real has won 71 times, with Barcelona claiming 67 victories.

“I haven’t had a chance to play much this season”, he told Real’s website (www.realmadrid.com) on Thursday.

Sergio Ramos, who has been nursing a shoulder injury, also should be fit.

“He’s in the squad”, manager Rafael Benitez responded when asked whether Benzema was in the right physical or mental condition to play, reports Spanish outlet AS.

“Obviously we’re up against a great team but we’re confident going into the game and I think we’re going to do a great job”.

“It will be an even contest”.

“He has the capacity to score a lot of goals, he has my absolute confidence that he will score a lot of goals and he is a guarantee and he will do that”.