Barcelona Defender Dani Alves Reveals Irritation At Losing Top Spot To Real Madrid

Real Madrid's victory over Racing Santander last weekend, combined with Barcelona's draw against Athletic Bilbao, took them to the summit of the Primera Division.

Full-back Dani Alves has explained that Pep Guardiola's side are more determined than ever to beat their rivals and regain top spot in the Primera Division.

"We're behind them," he is quoted as saying by AS.

"We're irritated because we've lost top spot. We have to recover it using our way of playing and try to win the game. We're playing at home, with our fans, and we have to impose our strength here."

However, he was careful to stress that league positions don't count for everything in el Clasico, and believes that los Blancos will be a difficult opposition to overcome.

"We are expecting a very tough, difficult match. In these games it doesn't matter who is leading, because the title is fictitious at the moment. If Madrid want the title of winter champions, I'll be happy, as long as we win in the summer."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Lionel Messi have recently returned to training, but Alves insists that the champions will not be affected by their potential absence.

"They're improving - they have done some training with us and we won't know if we can count on them or not until Sunday, but the group's confidence will be at its maximum, whether or not they come out with us for the match."