Barcelona's Van Gaal refuses to be drawn on Ronaldo form

Louis van Gaal refused to bite yesterday when asked for his opinion of Ronaldo's form with Real Madrid this season.

The Barcelona trainer, in his only interview before this week's big match, would only say: "I do not want to cause any problems. I have already given my explanation of what I think of Ronaldo's form."

"Now it is necessary to shut up. At the end of the season we will evaluate his work."

He continued: "We haven't had much luck in the La Liga. But, if we beat Real Madrid then we will move above them - and that is important."

"The objective is to be with the leaders for the final 10 games of the season, for that reason it is very important to be higher than Real on the table and to do this we must beat them on Saturday."