Former Spain Coach Jose Antonio Camacho believes Barcelona and Real Madrid have yet to see the best of Neymar and Gareth Bale.
The pair were each club’s respective major summer signing but speaking to AS, Camacho said the players hadn’t reached their highest level this season.
“They have yet to give their best,” Camacho said.
“Neymar has more on him, with the World Cup in Brazil coming up, where he’ll have a starring role.
“Bale isn’t going to the World Cup and so won’t have that. But if you cost what he cost, and you play in Madrid, you have to rise to the price tag.”
Camacho added that he was looking forward to seeing Bale and company meet Neymar and the rest of Barcelona later this month.
“It’s difficult to get a match of this kind anywhere else,” Camacho continued.
“There are two competitors for the Ballon d’Or, a striker who feels he’s on the same level, the best players of Spain, Argentina, Portugal and the best players on the market.
“I’ll always have a special memory of the first Clasico I played in, against Johan Cruyff’s Barcelona when it looked like they were going to win it all,” the former Real Madrid player and Coach went on.
“They came to the Santiago Bernabeu and it was a festival of football. The following year looked like being the same and there was I, a lad of 18, against Cruyff.
“I was very motivated for the game and I think I won an award. We won the League Cup too. I think that was when Spanish football got stronger and more important.”
Camacho, an experienced Coach who led Rayo Vallecano, Espanyol twice, Sevilla, Benfica twice, Osasuna and the China national team as well as La Roja and Los Blancos, also expressed sympathy for the situation of Barcelona’s Tata Martino.
“It’s very difficult for him but he’s adjusting well. It’s the hardest Barcelona situation since Pep Guardiola, as I see it.
“There was talk of me Coaching Barca and Atletico Madrid at one time but my Real Madrid connections weighed too heavily.”
