Brazilian soccer legend Vitor Borba Ferreira, commonly known as Rivaldo, predicts a 2-2 draw when Barcelona visit Estadio Santiago Bernabeu for the El clasico on Saturday. The game is a title decider as the Catalan side is 11 points above Real who have a game in hand. Rivaldo said he sees the game ending in a stalemate even though either side can win at the opponent’s home.

“Madrid are the defending champions but there are no favourites. Barca can win at the Bernabeu just like Madrid have done at Camp Nou,” he said.

The 1999 Ballon d’Or winner added that the quality of football in the La Liga has dropped in recent years. He adds that the average team in the La Liga is weaker than he expects them to.

“When you’ve got players who score more goals than there are games in a league competition, that’s not normal. Betis paid €60 million for Denilson. I don’t know of any team that could do that now apart from Madrid, Barca or Atletico.

“I think that before, the average level of most teams was higher than it is today.”

Rivaldo said if he was still playing until date he would rival Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo for Ballon d’Or titles. He praised both players but then he added that their stats show that they play against low quality teams.

“[Messi and Ronaldo] are the best players in the game and they make a difference but when they are scoring three or four goals in a match, it means that the quality of the team you are playing against is lower.”

Rivaldo also joined the Neymar debate, ruling that it was fair that he left Barca having received a better deal at PSG. He opined that the Brazilian could still join Madrid but that it wouldn’t be “for a while yet.”