Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe are both hoping to win the Ballon d’Or on Monday night when they are expected to attend the Parisian gala for the most prestigious individual award in soccer. But just a day before, the two stars aim to shine in a head-to-head battle in Barcelona. Mbappe’s Real Madrid visits Yamal’s Barcelona trailing the two-time defending La Liga champions already by six points after nine rounds. So the pressure is on Madrid — in third place behind Atletico Madrid — to at least not fall further behind.
Yamal is off to stellar start this season after he helped Spain win the World Cup in July, beating Mbappe’s France in the semifinals and Messi’s Argentina in the final. Mbappe, meanwhile, is as ruthless as ever in front of the net. The 19-year-old has 10 goals and 10 assists across La Liga and Champions League, plus another four goals for Spain, already this campaign. The striker has 12 goals in as many games and, along with goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois, he is keeping an otherwise erratic Madrid in touching distance of Barcelona. Barcelona had won all 11 games it had played this campaign until it ran into a rampant Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday. Two late goals by the European champions condemned Barcelona to a 4-2 defeat despite another superb goal by Yamal.
Madrid’s attack will be missing Vinicius Junior, who will serve the second of a four-game suspension in La LIga for pulling an opponent’s hair. Nineteen-year-old newcomer Yan Diomande is settling in and has scored in three of Madrid’s last four games while showing similar speed to Vinícius — if not the same incredible dribbling skills — on the left side of the attack. Raphinha has 14 goals in his new role as striker, while the team has scored a Europe-leading 50 goals overall, including hitting five or more goals in six games.
