Barcelona defender Iñigo Martínez will step onto the Santiago Bernabéu pitch tomorrow for what promises to be another thrilling edition of El Clásico. The 33-year-old centre-back, one of the veteran figures in Barça’s squad, faces the task of containing Real Madrid’s explosive attackers, Vinicius Jr and Kylian Mbappe. In an interview with Movistar, Martínez shared his thoughts on Vinicius’ qualities, the Ballon d’Or, and the challenges of facing Real Madrid.

Martínez openly acknowledged Vinicius’ talent and expressed his belief that the Brazilian star is a front-runner for this year’s Ballon d’Or.

“Whoever wins the Ballon d’Or, they deserve it. We all know that they will give it to Vinicius; I have no doubt. He is a great player. He continues to show it, and the other day he showed it in the Champions League: he blew the lid off the game.

“I have no doubt that he will try to do it against us, obviously.

“Let’s hope that some of our players will be there in the next one, and I have no doubt that Lamine will be able to be there soon.”

Despite Real Madrid’s challenges with consistency, Martínez acknowledged the unique threat they bring to games.

“They are showing in front of their fans that they are a great team,” he said. “Despite not being in a great moment of play and results, they are Real Madrid. With very little, they create a lot of goals. With the slightest thing, they create problems for you.

“It will be a very nice match and at the same time very difficult.”