Neymar Says Relationship with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez Tops Real Madrid's BBC

Barcelona winger Neymar has claimed the club’s attacking triumvirate of himself, Luis Suarez and Lionel Messi surpasses that of Real Madrid’s “BBC” trio.

Speaking with Alex Casanovas of AS, the Brazilian star was quizzed on a variety of different issues with the upcoming clash against Los Blancos looming large. But the standout segment from his interview was when he insisted the Barcelona front three are currently better than the Madrid threesome of Gareth Bale, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

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“I think so,” said the 23-year-old when quizzed on the issue. “But we do our own thing, we do not look at our opponents, we focus on moving forward with our games.”

Here’s a look at how the two forward lines compare in all competitions so far this season:

	Goals	Assists
Messi	41	16
Neymar	26	4
Suarez	13	10
Total	80	30
Ronaldo	39	12
Bale	14	6
Benzema	20	9
Total	73	27

Bleacher Report’s Sam Tighe agrees with Neymar’s assessment:

While debate has raged for years on the issue of whether Messi or Ronaldo is the better player, the latest hot topic for those associated with the top clubs in Spain is based on which clutch of offensive stars outshine the other. So far this season, each trio has made pretty compelling arguments.

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Real Madrid’s “BBC” were magnificent towards the back end of 2014, as the club embarked on a stunning run of 22 consecutive wins in all competitions. Ronaldo’s stellar goalscoring was at the forefront of that sequence, but the trailblazing of Bale and the astute link-up of Benzema were also paramount to their scintillating displays.

But since the turn of the year, things have turned sour for the trio and club. Ronaldo hasn’t been able to hit the heights of late 2014, Bale has become a scapegoat for Real’s downturn in form, while Benzema has been deprived of service at the point of the attack.

As noted by Squawka Football, their form has toiled in comparison to Barcelona’s best attacking talents:

Nonetheless, manager Carlo Ancelotti has insisted none of the three illustrious names will dropped. “I have total faith in the BBC,” said the Italian ahead of Real’s 4-3 defeat at home to Schalke, per Sid Lowe of the Guardian. “Them starting is not negotiable.”

Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images

Meanwhile, Barcelona’s trio have settled into a magnificent groove. Messi is flourishing in a role on the right-hand side, Neymar’s darts in from the left are devastatingly penetrative to watch and Suarez is beginning to resemble the ferocious player that almost single-handedly hauled Liverpool to the Premier League title last season.

With those factors considered, at this juncture, it’s tough to argue with Neymar’s point of view, and you certainly wouldn’t expect him to say otherwise. But he recognises Real are still a fine team and the upcoming clash at the Camp Nou will be a massively important occasion:

"

El Clasico will be a final and we have to prepare as such. They are a very tough team but we only have to think about victory.

The distance is not definitive, the season is very long and there are many games. We’ll have to play our game and focus on winning.

"

Alex Caparros/Getty Images

But it’s entertaining to get a little bit of needle from players before these massive games and Neymar did oblige in that sense.

Real were perilously close to being dumped out of the Champions League by Schalke, with the Germans putting the pressure on in search of a late goal. When asked in the aforementioned piece if he’d have liked the Bundesliga club to get another 10 minutes, “yes” and a laugh was the response.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Real are currently in a lull, but their attacking stars have shown previously that when it all clicks together they have enough to match Barcelona’s attacking threesome and fire this team to stratospheric levels.

Ancelotti is doing the right thing by persevering with the players in their best roles, for they are too talented not to play themselves out of this poor form.

But by the time that spark comes, their chances of winning the league title could have slipped away, especially with the Blaugrana now leading the way in La Liga. The Barcelona front three has got Catalonians dreaming of a treble triumph once again, and a virtuoso display in the Clasico at the Camp Nou would give those hopes some major credence.