Lionel Messi will start for Barcelona when they go up against Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey tonight.
The Argentina international has a stunning record against Los Blancos having found the net a staggering 26 times against them already.
And, ahead of tonight’s crunch showdown, Real Madrid icon Del Bosque has praised Messi – rating him above Ronaldo in the process.
Del Bosque, who won the Champions League twice with Real, told Catalan newspaper Mundo Deportivo: “He [Messi] almost always plays well.
“There are players who never do it wrong. He has an impressive regularity. He is a great player.
“I’m staying with Messi. I see a more natural soccer player, from his time in the neighbourhood, playing with friends on the street.
“Even so, Cristiano has extraordinary courage, with physical and technical conditions as a great scorer, but I’m staying with Messi.”
Del Bosque also thinks Real miss Ronaldo.
“He [Ronaldo] is a player who guarantees many goals and now it is harder for Madrid to score them,” Del Bosque continued.
“Even so, there are other very good players, like Bale, who is a special boy with great conditioning.
“Or Benzema, which has been badly spoken about but has fantastic qualities.”
Meanwhile, former Real Madrid star Rafael Van der Vaart has also praised Messi.
“He’s from another world,” he told El Larguero.
“I saw him the other day against Sevilla. It’s impossible to stop him, I think so because he appears everywhere.
“He runs with the ball but between speed and technique, you cannot defend him.”
Real Madrid and Barcelona drew 1-1 when the teams met in the first leg two weeks ago.
Lucas Vazquez fired Los Blancos in front after just six minutes.
But Barcelona earned a draw through Malcom, who struck with 57 minutes on the clock.