A red carpet for the best Lamine Yamal

BarcelonaLamine Yamal's exhibition at the Betis stadium went around the world in no time. It is already normal for the striker from Rocafonda to leave the footballing planet amazed match after match. Barça continues to be a steamroller, counting all their matches as victories and having their franchise player in sensational form, with goals, assists, and individual actions that are only within the reach of a chosen few. A complete guarantee for a club that, after winning the ten matches played so far, faces the reigning Champions League winners, Paris Saint-Germain, on Tuesday.

Luis Enrique's PSG is no slouch either, although their start to the season has not been brilliant. They lead Ligue 1 by goal difference, although they are tied on points with Paris FC and Lille. They have conceded two draws and one defeat in the domestic competition, but this does not worry Luis Enrique's team, which is used to going from strength to strength in their league. In Europe, they have not forgiven: two triumphs –one of them against City– and ten goals for, one more than Barça, which is why they lead the league phase, also by goal difference.

The duel between the French and Catalan sides is the highest-level match of this third Champions League matchday. But it has become a headache for the coaches in the defensive area. Especially in Paris, where Nuno Mendes, probably the best current left-back, had to withdraw from the match against Strasbourg due to muscle discomfort. "I don't know if you can call it an injury. But we decided not to take any risks," said Luis Enrique in the press room.

Mendes underwent tests on Sunday and PSG announced that the footballer would miss "the coming weeks" due to a muscle injury. Undoubtedly, bad news for PSG, as the Portuguese player was going to be the one in charge of stopping Lamine Yamal's attacks. There was already a precedent in the summer, in the Spain-Portugal match at the World Cup. A very even match while the Portuguese full-back was on the pitch. When he had to withdraw, also due to injury, Lamine Yamal had no one capable of stopping him. The former Barcelona player Nélson Semedo was no opposition and the player from Maresme had a red carpet for his classic ambushes. The match ended with a goal in stoppage time that gave qualification to the Red.

Mendes' replacement will be one of the topics that Luis Enrique will have to answer in the press room, at the pre-match conference. In principle, the person in charge of stopping Lamine Yamal would be the team's other left-back, Lucas Digne. But it happens that the former Barcelona player does not have the coach's confidence. The French media explain that it is a physical and performance problem: he has only played five of the Parisian club's ten matches this season, and only two as a starter.

Barça is praying for Gerard to arrive in time for the match

Luis Enrique is suffering for the defense, but he is not the only one. Hansi Flick also has doubts at the back, and even more so after knowing that both Jules Kounde and Eric Garcia had left the match against Betis injured. Barça confirmed on Sunday that neither of them will be able to travel to Paris. In addition, the coach has doubts about Gerard Martín, who left the pitch with discomfort, although in his case it seems that he will finally be able to play.

Taking into account that Flick also has the absence of Christensen, who does not know when he will be able to play again, it is most likely that the coach will place Xavi Espart on the right wing and Cancelo on the left. With Cubarsí as a guaranteed starting center-back, if Gerard Martín is finally unable to play, he will have to convert a midfielder to the center-back position, with Rodri being the main candidate.