Markus Surge, the assistant coach to Hans Flick at Barcelona, confirmed that the Catalan team is fully ready to face Real Madrid in the highly anticipated Clasico, emphasizing the importance of focus and caution against the opponent.

Surge made these statements during the press conference for the match, where he attended instead of Flick after the Spanish Football Federation rejected Barcelona's appeal to allow the German coach to be on the bench, following his second yellow card against Girona. Surge is set to lead the team from the technical area at the Santiago Bernabeu tomorrow, Sunday, as part of the tenth round of La Liga.

Regarding his leadership of the team, Surge said: "It is a great honor for me to be on the bench tomorrow, the Clasico is a very special occasion, and we expect a very tough match. We must show our strengths like high pressing."

On the absence of Raphinha, he added: "Any team wishes to have Raphinha, but the reality is that he is injured. We will see tomorrow if Ferran Torres will start as a starter."

Regarding Flick's absence, he added: "We will certainly miss Flick, he is the most important element of the team, but as with the players, we have to deal with the situation in the best possible way."

On Lamine Yamal, he confirmed: "Lamine is a top-class player, and this match will be a great motivation for him. We hope to see him at his best tomorrow."

On Koundé's condition, he indicated: "Koundé trained well, and we will see after the training session how he feels. If he is ready, he will participate in the match."

Regarding officiating, he said: "We need to focus only on the match, everyone makes mistakes, we should not get distracted by what we cannot control or influence."

About the match, Surge added: "In such matches, everything is even, and the team that performs better on the field will win."

On Real Madrid, he confirmed: "Real Madrid is going through a wonderful transitional period, just as it was last season. The biggest challenge for us is facing their strong attacking line."

About Barcelona's plan, he continued: "We must avoid losing the ball and be organized in pressing and possession. If we implement that, we can achieve victory."

On Real Madrid's strikers, he added: "We talked about the behavior of Real Madrid's strikers, and our team is fully prepared to face Vinicius and Mbappe."

It is worth mentioning that Real Madrid enters the match at the top of the La Liga standings with 24 points, while Barcelona occupies the second place with 22 points, which increases the importance of this encounter in the title race.