Amid political tension, Lionel Messi takes part in Barcelona training ahead of el clasico against Real Madrid - in pictures

Barcelona forward and captain Lionel Messi joined his teammates for a final run out ahead of the highly-anticipated clasico against Real Madrid on Wednesday. The match takes place at Barcelona's Camp Nou against the backdrop of high political tension, with thousands of protesters expected to take to the area around the ground in support of Catalan independence. For Messi and teammates including Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann and Gerard Pique, Tuesday was all about fine-tuning tactics at the Joan Gamper Sports City training ground ahead of Madrid's visit. Messi is the all-time leading scorer in clasicos with 26 goals. Barca and Real are first and second in La Liga on 35 points after 16 games. To see a selection of images of Barcelona in training, see the photo gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or thumbnails, or if using a mobile device, simply swipe.

Amid political tension, Lionel Messi takes part in Barcelona training ahead of el clasico against Real Madrid - in pictures

Match takes place at Camp Nou with thousands of protesters expected to take to the area around the ground in support of Catalan independence on Wednesday