Luis Enrique's plan to stop Lamine Yamal: don't let him touch the ball

There's one line that sums up how Luis Enrique plans to stop Lamine Yamal: keep the ball away from him. Simple as that, and just as hard to pull off. The Asturian coach made it clear at the press conference ahead of Tuesday's match at the Parc des Princes, where PSG host a Barcelona side that's rolling and still unbeaten this season.

The matchup between the two clubs in the Champions League brings back recent memories: last season, PSG won the reverse fixture at Camp Nou 2-1, and much of that story played out down the left flank, with Nuno Mendes going toe to toe with Yamal time and again. That particular chapter won't repeat itself this time, since the Portuguese fullback is out injured. Lucas Digne looks set to be the one tasked with handling the Barca winger, though Luis Enrique was quick to stress this won't be an individual battle, but a collective one.

"The best way to stop Lamine Yamal is to keep the ball away from Barcelona," the coach explained. "If he can't get the ball, everything is under control. That would be ideal, but we know that won't be the case because it's difficult to play against Barcelona and against Lamine Yamal." He also made one more thing clear: Yamal doesn't travel alone on that roster.

The way to defend against a team with that kind of quality is to stay alert and approach it as a team. But it's not just Lamine. There's Raphinha, Pedri... there are a lot of top-level players.Luis Enrique

Not a word about Messi

At just 19, Yamal is in brilliant form: he has nine goals and ten assists so far this season, numbers that match a Barcelona team that hasn't tasted defeat, with eleven wins in eleven games across all competitions. Ever since he debuted at 15, the comparisons to Lionel Messi have only grown, which makes sense given he plays the same position and now wears the number 10. But Luis Enrique, who once coached Messi himself at Barca, would rather shut that conversation down.

"I think Lamine wants to be Lamine, and he's doing it very well," he said. "He's improving in every aspect of his game, but if you compare him to the best player in history, there's only going to be one winner. Maybe we can talk about that in the future, but right now it's better not to compare him to Messi."

A Barcelona side scoring four goals a game

The matchup has all the makings of a showcase: on one side, the two-time reigning European champion; on the other, the team playing the best soccer on the continent right now. Barcelona, leaders of LaLiga, aren't just winning every game, they're doing it at an eye-popping clip: 48 goals so far this season, averaging more than four per match. Both sides also arrive with a perfect record through their first two matchdays of the Champions League league phase. Despite all the buzz, Luis Enrique called for perspective ahead of Tuesday's result: "The structure of the competition allows this game to be played now, but it doesn't reflect what the future might look like. I know we're both among the favorites, but there are other teams too. This is only the beginning. The competition really starts in April, not now. And the teams still standing in April will be the ones fighting for the trophy. It'll be a tightly contested match, but there are only three points on the line."

Still, this game carries a special meaning for Luis Enrique. His ties to Barcelona run deep: he played there, coached there, and remains a club member to this day. "I have an incredible relationship with Catalonia. My wife and my children are Catalan. But we face Barcelona often. At first it was strange, but now I'm getting used to it. They play a style similar to ours. They have enormous quality and they carry values that I really like," he admitted.

He closed with a confession that sounded both sincere and competitive at once: "I love watching Barca, the way they play. It's fantastic to see that ambition and identity, which resembles what we're striving for. But of course, as a Parisian, I'd love to win tomorrow, and we want to become the first team to beat Barca this season."