PSG Host Barcelona at Parc des Princes in Season’s Biggest Match, All Eyes on Yamal

The biggest Champions League match of the season so far is tonight. On Tuesday night at Paris’s Parc des Princes, reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) face an in-form Barcelona, and excitement among football fans is at its peak over the battle between the two sides’ attacking stars.

Barcelona arrive on the confidence of 11 straight wins. From La Liga to the Champions League, Hansi Flick’s side have been in superb rhythm in both competitions. Now a tough test awaits them away to PSG.

At the centre of PSG coach Luis Enrique’s preparations is the challenge of containing Barcelona’s attack. In his view, the most effective way to neutralise Lamine Yamal is to keep Barcelona themselves away from the ball.

Yamal has been an unstoppable force in Barcelona’s attack this season. So far he has scored 9 goals himself and set up 10 more for teammates. In both scoring and creating, he is a major pillar of Flick’s team, which is why Enrique has had to plan specially for him against PSG as well.

Explaining his strategy to stop Yamal at the pre-match press conference, the PSG coach said, “The best way to stop Yamal is to keep the ball away from Barcelona. If he doesn’t get the ball, everything stays calm. That would be ideal, but we know that won’t happen, because playing against Barcelona and Yamal is hard.”

Enrique also reminded everyone that Barcelona’s threat is not limited to Yamal. In his words, “The way to resist a team of their quality is to stay alert and play as a team. But it is not just Lamine — there are Raphinha, Pedri and many more top players.”

Since breaking into Barcelona’s first team at just 16, Yamal has constantly been compared with Lionel Messi. His style of play, his position on the pitch and the number 10 shirt have all fed that discussion. But Enrique, who coached Messi at Barcelona, believes the comparison does Yamal no good at this stage.

Enrique said, “I think Lamine wants to be Lamine, and he is doing very well. He is improving in every aspect of the game. But if you compare him with the greatest player of all time, there will be only one winner. Perhaps we can talk about it in the future. But right now, comparing him with Messi is not a good thing.”

Beyond the talk around Yamal, special attention in this match will also fall on Raphinha and Ousmane Dembele. Both were once known primarily as wingers. Now both have added a new dimension to their game — Raphinha for Barcelona and Dembele for PSG are influencing play more from the centre of the attack.

At Leeds, Raphinha mainly played on the right wing. At Barcelona he has had to play on the left, and in November 2022 he even spoke of discussing his preferred position with coach Xavi Hernandez. Later, under Hansi Flick, his role began to change; this season he has 14 goals in just 9 official matches. After missing several recent matches through injury, however, he returned as a substitute against Real Betis, and whether he starts against PSG remains to be seen.

The effect of a positional change is clear in Dembele’s case too. After Kylian Mbappe left PSG, Enrique focused on using him as a centre forward. According to the statistics, Dembele has scored 47 goals in 74 matches in that position, compared with 48 goals in 210 matches as a right winger — the French star has reached almost the same tally in far fewer matches from the centre.

Both teams, however, must cope with injury blows. Barcelona are without defenders Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia through injury, while PSG are missing injured left-back Nuno Mendes. Even with Raphinha and Frenkie de Jong back, Barcelona’s defensive absences could prove significant. All in all, the football world awaits a thrilling night of attacking flair and tactical battle.