Having lost Neymar to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer, many believed Barcelona would struggle to cope in his absence.

That feeling was further exacerbated when Barcelona's £135 million replacement, Ousmane Dembele, was ruled out with a long term hamstring injury.

But, the Catalans have silenced their critics with a tremendous start to the season.

Ernesto Valverde's men have built up a four point lead at the top of the table over 2nd placed Valencia, having won 11 and drawn two of their opening 13 La Liga matches.

Even more crucially, is that they have already claimed an eight point lead over their biggest rivals, Real Madrid.

MESSI NAMES BARCA'S FOUR BIGGEST UCL RIVALS

Barcelona are not just going well domestically.

In the Champions League, they have already secured their place in the last 16 with a game to spare, having fought off the challenge of Juventus for top spot in Group D.

Lionel Messi, who has been in exquisite form once again this season, has revealed the clubs that he believes will be Barcelona's biggest competitors for the Champions League title.

Given their unbeaten starts to their domestic campaigns, the Argentine named Man City and PSG as the two teams that on current form, are their biggest rivals.

In an interview with German Magazine Kicker, as per ESPN, Messi said: "[Man] City have been one of the strongest teams so far this season together with PSG."

And the five time Ballon d'Or winner also claimed Real Madrid and Bayern Munich will also be challengers come the business end of the season.

"But the season is still young; I would never discount Real Madrid because of their class and experience, even though they aren't picking up the expected results at the moment," Messi continued.

"Nor Bayern Munich - Bayern are the other big team that will be ready come the end of the season."

MESSI EXPECTS REAL MADRID TO COME GOOD

And Messi also claimed that Real Madrid will transform their form after a tough start to the season, which sees them fourth in La Liga, and having qualified 2nd from their Champions League group, behind Tottenham.

Speaking about Real Madrid's mini crisis, the 30-year-old said: "It's only temporary.

"It's not the first time we see a club like Real in such a situation. In the end, though, because of their squad and players, they'll be fighting for every title again. Because it's always this way."