Former Barcelona midfielder Gaizka Mendieta has conceded that the Catalan outfit could struggle to match Real Madrid this season after losing Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain.

Barcelona sold Neymar to PSG at the start of last month, with the 25-year-old becoming the most expensive footballer in the world after moving to the French capital for just shy of £200m.

The Spanish giants have brought in Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele to ease the blow of losing the Brazilian, but Mendieta has admitted that ‘it is difficult to replace’ a player of Neymar’s ilk.

“It’s a big loss for the club, because we know how much Neymar brought into the team with the skills and the talent that he has,” Mendieta told reporters.

“It’s difficult to replace him. Whether they could’ve got any other player, it’s always going to be difficult. Barca is Barca, they always have to fight for titles and this year is going to be no different because Real Madrid at the moment is kind of on top.

“It seems they’ve got a deeper squad, a stronger squad than Barca. But you always have to be there, try to make it difficult for them and try to win as many trophies as possible.”

Barcelona will return to La Liga action with a home game against Catalan rivals Espanyol on September 9.
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