Zinedine Zidane has dismissed the furore over Barcelona's "decline" and insisted that they are not in crisis ahead of his side's clash with Valencia.
Real Madrid currently lead the way in La Liga by one point, but have two games in hand on second-placed Barca.
Los Blancos will go four points clear with a win in Estadio de Mestalla on Wednesday, which stands them in good stead going into the final third of the season.
Luis Enrique's side suffered a humbling 4-0 defeat at the hands of French side PSG in the Champions League a week ago, and much has been made about the future of Barca as a dominant force in European football.
For Zidane though, reports of the Catalan club's demise have been sensationalised. He said simply, via the Daily Mail: "Barcelona in crisis? No, I do not think so."
The Frenchman also addressed rumours linking Pepe, James Rodriguez and Isco with moves away from the Bernabeu.
"I understand if Isco is thinking about his future,"he said. "But Isco knows that I count with him, and I like him.
"I'm happy with James. For what he is doing on the pitch, but also for what he is saying that he wants to stay in Madrid."
It is understood Zidane will make a number of changes ahead of the Valencia game having made a few tweaks against Espanyol last time out, a game which they won 2-0.
Keylor Navas, Luka Modric and Karim Benzema sat out the clash and are allexpected to be recalled, as is Sergio Ramos who has been recovering from a hip injury. Gareth Baleis likely to start from the bench given his lack of match fitness after his own lengthyinjury lay off.