Achraf Hakimi from Paris Saint-Germain says that the “best left left” in the world Mendes can stop the Lamine Yamal on Wednesday when his team faces Barcelona at the Olympic stadium in the Champions League.
With PSG missing Ballon d’Or the winner Ousmane Dembélé, Desiré Doué and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, although injury and Barcelona without Raphinha, the accent is more on Yamal to deliver against the European champions.
Yamal, 18, did well against Mendes when the two parties met in the quarter -finals of the same competition in 2024, but he had a hard time having an impact when Spain lost against Portugal in the final of the UEFA Nations League this summer.
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“Lamin is not on my side, but it will be against the left back of the world in Nuno Mendes,” said Hakimi at the pre-match press conference.
“He is able to stop him, as he has already done, and as he has stopped other attackers with the same style as Lamine in the past. He is well prepared.
“But the strength of our team is the help we provide ourselves, so we will try to help Nuno and not to leave it un-un because we know the ability that Lamine A in these situations.”
Yamal, 16 at the time, impressed when Barça won 3-2 in Paris two seasons ago and set the first goal of the return leg before being replaced after Ronald Araújo was sent.
The French champions won 4-1, progressing in the semi-finals, and midfielder from Barça Pedri said earlier Tuesday that the Catalan team was going to avenge this defeat.
PSG coach Luis Enrique refused the possibility of responding to Pedri, whom he succeeded when he was in charge of Spain, rather labeling the midfielder Harry Potter and joking that he hopes that he will not bring his magic wand with him on Wednesday.
“I know Pedri very well,” he said. “He is an incredible player and I am happy to see him play so well. I think he also knows me very well about the national team.
“For me, he is Harry Potter. I just hope that he does not bring his wand. We will try to keep him on the sidelines as much as possible, but it is not only him, it is [Frenkie] De Jong, [Pau] Cubarsí, Lamine Yamal …
“It is a motivation for us to overcome a team that is very good with the ball and without it. It is seen in the results they had last season and they are doing very well this year.”
In addition to their attacking trio, PSG is also without Marquinhos, while Luis Enrique will go late to Vittinha and João Neves, who both trained with the Olympic stadium team on Wednesday.
Returning to Barcelona, where he spent eight years as a player and six as coach of the reserve team and later the first team, is still special for Luis Enrique, but it will be more this week when the funds collect for the Xana Foundation.
The PSG shirts will carry the logo of the Foundation, which bears the name of the end of Luis Enrique and collect funds for sick children, and will be sold at auction after the match.
“I would like to thank the president of PSG for this incredible gesture, giving the money of players’ shirts to the Xana Foundation,” said Luis Enrique.
“It is a special gesture, especially here in Barcelona. We need this visibility to help families and children. We will not forget it.
“It’s always special and pleasant to be in Barcelona anyway. It’s my house, where I spent a large part of my career. It is not Camp Nou, but it is a stadium where I have good memories, like the inauguration of the Olympic Games in 1992, in which I was.
“I can’t say a single bad thing about Barcelona. I am eternally grateful. But I am a professional tomorrow.”
