Former Real Madrid star Raymond Kopa, who wore the Blancos jersey from 1956 until 1959, feels that Barcelona still have work to do if they are to match the Santiago Bernabeu side’s list of honours, though, concedes the Blaugrana’s style of football is more attractive.

The Catalans have overtaken Madrid as the dominant force in Spanish football in recent years, but Kopa is adamant that they are not on par with the reigning Liga champions just yet.

“Real Madrid are still a notch above Barcelona. I think that Barça must wait a few years yet before they can match Real’s list of honours,” Kopa told the official Fifa website.

“I have to admit that the Catalans play the better football at the moment, but that didn’t stop us having a magnificent season last year.

“Things don’t look great for us right now, though – 16 points between the teams is a lot.”

The Frenchman then went on to stress that the Madrid he played for in the 1950s were at least as good as the current Barcelona team.

He added: “I can tell you that my Real team were at least as good as this Barça side. I only lost one match in three years with Madrid. Yes, it was the worst possible one to lose because it was a 1-0 loss to Atletico, but we were, quite frankly, unbeatable at the time.”

Madrid currently sit third in the Primera Division table.