Real Madrid boss Zinedine Zidane has declared that his side are still the most prestigious team in La Liga regardless of Barcelona’s imminent title win this season. The Catalan side are expected to retain their La Liga title this season but the Frenchman has disclosed that the Madrid side are still bigger than the Blaugrana.

Madrid have won the title 33 times in their history, more than any club in the history of the Spanish top-flight. However, the capital club have fallen far behind their rivals this season. They also seem to have placed more focus on the Champions League as they have won the title four times in the last 5 years.

Barcelona on the other hand are edging closer to their 26th La Liga crown, which will be their fourth in the last five years. They are 12 points clear ahead of their nearest challengers, Atletico Madrid and 16 points clear of Real Madrid. Barcelona would be crowned as 2019 champions if Atleti loses to Valencia.

Although the Santiago Bernabeu side have failed to remain in contention for the domestic crown this term, they made history by winning the last three Champions League titles. The Madrid boss admits La Liga is the most important trophy that his side can win. However, he insists Barcelona’s recent dominance does nothing to diminish their status as the biggest in the division.

“La Liga is very important. It’s the daily objective,” he told reporters. “It’s going to be our first objective for the next season. “We have 33 Liga titles. How many do Barcelona have? It’s true they are doing great in the last few years, and we have to recognise them, but in our history there are many more titles. For me it’s the most important title to fight for.”

After Zidane’s resignation last year, Madrid endured a tough season that saw them fall out of the La Liga title race in December and crash out of the Champions League round of 16 to Ajax Amsterdam. The board fired Julen Lopetegui and Santiago Solari before recalling Zidane to steady the ship.

Madrid are expected to sign a lot of players to strengthen their squad but Zidane admits that several players might also leave the club to allow fresh faces come in. One player said to be hoping for a move away from the Spanish capital is Keylor Navas, who has lost his place in goal to Thibaut Courtois.

“I would understand if any of my goalkeepers wanted to leave the club in case of not being my first goalkeeper for the next season,” he said. “Anything can happen yet. It’s easy for you to talk about their future, but the difficult part is for me to decide and to talk to them.”

“If I would like to keep the three I have nowadays? I can’t say that, cause sometimes I like some things and finally the opposite happens. “We have 25 players, so if we want to sign players, some others have to leave.”