Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde has warned his team to beware a wounded Real Madrid side as the hosts head into Sunday's Clasico at the Camp Nou without the injured Lionel Messi.

"We know what Madrid are like, they are more dangerous when they are wounded," said Valverde at a press conference on the eve of the game. His opposite number Julen Lopetegui is under enormous pressure ahead of the match, with Real having taken just one point from their last four games in La Liga. Madrid ended a five-match winless run in all competitions by beating Viktoria Plzen 2-1 in the Champions League in midweek, but that unconvincing performance may have only delayed the inevitable for Lopetegui.