Luis Enrique calls Lamine Yamal the "chosen one" — a word that will sting Mbappé

On the eve of the showdown between Paris Saint-Germain and FC Barcelona at Parc des Princes on Tuesday evening (9 p.m.), Luis Enrique chose his words carefully when discussing Lamine Yamal — and one of them is sure to resonate in Madrid.

When asked by Movistar, the PSG coach described the 17-year-old Barcelona prodigy in glowing terms: “Lamine Yamal is someone special, the chosen one, so to speak. He already has a unique present and a wonderful future. He delights everyone who loves football.” The choice of the word “chosen one” is no accident: it is precisely the term Kylian Mbappé used to define himself during his Ballon d’Or campaign.

The Real Madrid striker had then stated, comparing himself to Ousmane Dembélé: “He has always been seen as a talented player. Me, I have always been seen as the chosen one. I was immediately at the top, very early on.” Dembélé replied a few days later, without naming him: “I was never the chosen one, but I worked enormously.” By using the phrase again, Luis Enrique — who worked alongside Mbappé at Paris before seeing him leave — appears to symbolically transfer the status of generational phenomenon to Barcelona’s star.

On the tactical front, the Spanish coach revealed his recipe for containing Yamal: “It’s very simple. The best way to defend against Lamine Yamal is to have the ball. If you have the ball, it means he doesn’t have it, so everything is calm and peaceful.” However, he tempered this apparent optimism: “We remain focused on what we can do to overcome and defend against a team with many qualities. You have to be attentive and overcome that with the team, not with just one player.”

PSG and Barcelona face off on Tuesday in the third matchday of the Champions League league phase.