Madrid head into the clash at the Nou Camp a point clear of their Catalan rivals following last weekend's home win over Racing Santander.

Barca effectively sealed their title triumph with an astonishing 6-2 hammering of the capital club at the Bernabeu towards the end of last season and, in Spain, the head-to-head record between sides trumps goal difference.

However, Alonso believes it is far to early in the season to build the match up into any sort of title decider.

"It will be important, but not decisive," he told realmadrid.com.

"Three more points are at stake, but we will face our greatest opponents. There are nevertheless many games left in the championship."

Alonso believes the nature of the Spanish league makes 'el gran clasico' stand out so prominently in world football.

"Every game is different," the former Liverpool player said. "This is probably the clash with the widest international coverage.

"England has more strong clashes between teams. In Spain everything seems to be polarised between either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

The Basque midfielder believes his father, Periko, will be on his side despite being a former Barca player.

He added: "He will pay close attention to the match. He took part in clasicos when he was a player at Barcelona. He'll support me, I'm sure."

Sergio Ramos is set to be fit for the big clash but several team-mates are still struggling. Defender Raul Albiol (knee), striker Ruud van Nistelrooy (muscle strain) and midfielder Guti (bruised quadricep) missed training today with their respective problems.

Ramos insists he feels fit enough to play and regain his best form.

"I had to gradually adapt again after my injury and I now feel fit," he said.

"I can do better and help the team more and I will gradually do so.

"I think the team is working hard despite our elimination from the Copa del Rey. We know what we need to do to achieve our goals in La Liga and in the Champions League. We will try to work hard and to be humble to win a title."