Jose Mourinho says it is unfair to compare Real Madrid with Barcelona because his side are only at the beginning of their development under the Portuguese manager.

The two Spanish rivals meet in La Liga on Sunday afternoon in the latest edition of El Clasico, with Barcelona arriving as leaders and holding a significant advantage in recent meetings between the clubs.

Real Madrid have won their past four matches, including a third successive victory in which they scored four goals, against RB Leipzig this week. That run has suggested Mourinho’s team are beginning to find their rhythm.

Barcelona, however, have won six of their last seven matches against Real Madrid in all competitions. A victory on Sunday would allow the Catalan club to move nine points clear after their impressive start to the season.

Mourinho rejected the idea that Real Madrid’s recent improvement should be used to measure them against Barcelona or other more established teams. He said the club’s project remained in its early stages after his arrival in the summer.

“I think the people that thought a week ago Barca would thrash us will keep thinking the same thing. I don't think just for the Paris game, or Madrid's (4-1 win against) Leipzig, they will change their way of thinking,” Mourinho stated, as quoted by RTL.

“People look at us like a finished product, but finished products in football are difficult because they are never finished... but they look at us like we're in an advanced phase of the process.

“We've been working for three months, out of that you can take pre-season when the players were arriving (back from the World Cup), and the recent international break, then we've been together a month-and-a-half, two months... This is the start of a product, we're in an initial phase where the coach is learning, analysing, bit by bit defining paths, the players are learning about the coach... comparing a team in this state (to more established sides), I think is unfair.”

Mourinho’s comments came before a decisive run of fixtures for Real Madrid. They have four matches scheduled before the next international break, beginning with the meeting with Barcelona.

Real Madrid will then face Racing de Santander and Valencia in La Liga before travelling to Greece to play AEK Athens in Europe.

The sequence of games will form part of Mourinho’s attempt to rebuild a Real Madrid side that has gone without a trophy for the past two years.