Barca have held the edge over their fierce rivals over the past two years - winning the La Liga on both occasions. However, with a new coach in charge and a slew of promising players in the squad, Real are ready to challenge the Catalan supremacy this season.

And Pique, for one, is looking forward to the challenge.

In comments reported by the club's officialw website, he said: "It will be fun. We are two very different teams with different styles although [Jose] Mourinho claims they will be attacking, with very different coaches and two great squads. Maybe other teams will be involved too, but both ourselves and Madrid will be up there."

Commenting on the fitness levels of the Barca players, he said: "We all came back with a good level of fitness and are in great condition.

"To play an international and then play so soon after would mean recharging very quickly. On a personal note though I felt better than I thought I would.

Barcelona face their first real battle of the season on Saturday when they seek to overcome a first-leg 3-1 deficit against Sevilla in the Spanish Supercopa.

"I think that they are different competitions [on Sevilla playing in the Champions League qualifier in midweek]. They will come here to win the Super Cup. They, like us, will only be thinking about the game on Saturday.

"Obviously they have an advantage and 3-1 is always a good result. We have to bounce back, playing in Camp Nou will help us as we will have our fans behind us and some teams find that games here feel very long."

"I do not think it is finished. We have enough with 19 first team players and the B teamers. We have a squad that is good enough, both in terms of quality and quantity. We go into it as reigning champions and have shown our quality."

Coach Pep Guardiola has revealed he would be interested in signing some more players before the transfer window closes.