The Spanish champions have had the upper hand over their bitter rivals in recent meetings, as they are unbeaten in their last six league matches against Real Madrid.
Los Blancos’ last win against Barcelona in La Liga came in a 2-1 at the Camp Nou in April 2016, thanks to goals from Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi believes this upcoming el Clasico will not be a cakewalk for the Catalan giants and he is expecting Real Madrid to be stronger.
"I expect a very strong Real Madrid," the 32-year-old said at Adidas media event on Wednesday.
"They have shown it in the last matches, in La Liga and in the Champions League.”
"Barca v Madrid and Madrid v Barca are always special matches. It doesn't matter how the teams arrive, although it's true that we both go into it at a good time."
Messi also admitted that the gulf between the Spanish big teams and smaller teams has closed in recent years, making La Liga a lot more complicated.
This season’s la Liga table is a testament of what the Argentine said as Barcelona lead Real Madrid on goal difference at the top of the table and are just three points above third-placed Sevilla.
"Everything is becoming more and more even," Messi added.
"They have been for several years and we notice that there is more equality, that any team beats any other team, which is increasingly difficult to play as an away team.”
"The teams have become stronger at home because they know that in order to achieve their goals they must do it well at home.”
"This makes everything more equal and more complicated."
