Argentina captain, Lionel Messi, revealed that victory in the season's first El Clasico against Real Madrid is far more important than the La Liga goalscoring record.
Messi, is just one short of Telmo Zarra's 251-goal record which has stood since 1955 and could enter the record books once more as Barcelona face Los Blancos at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday.
The prolific striker joined coach Luis Enrique in playing down the importance of the match regarding the title race as they are only eight games into the season.
"It is a Clasico and it is always nice to play in it, but it won't decide anything," he told reporters
"There is still a long way to go, but we will play to win as always.
"The record is less important, The important thing is that we play well and win."
Messi and Neymar have already combined for 19 of their side's 28 goals this season, but the Argentine admitted he cannot wait for the return of Luis Suarez.
"We are desperately awaiting the return of Luis because he will give us a lot of strength as a team," Messi added
"He is a great striker who will score a lot of goals, I am happy for him because he has spent a lot of time without playing."
Messi has made 28 El Clasico appearances, while scoring scored 21 goals in the process.
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