UK, October 20: Luis Enrique says European champions Paris Saint-Germain must defend as a team to stop Barcelona star Lamine Yamal, but insists the teenager cannot be compared with Lionel Messi as "there will be only one winner".
Spain forward Yamal has made an astonishing start to the season, with nine goals and 10 assists, as free-scoring Barcelona have rattled off 11 straight wins.
Luis Enrique managed Messi at Barcelona between 2014 and 2017 and was asked to compare the Argentina great and 19-year-old Lamal at his press conference ahead of Tuesday's heavyweight Champions League tie at Parc des Princes.
He said: "Lamine Yamal is doing very well and improving every aspect of his game, but if you compare the best player of all time Lionel Messi with anyone else there will be only one winner.
"Maybe we can speak about that in the future. But right now Lamine Yamal is very intelligent and doing his best.
"You cannot just defend individually against him, we must defend as a team."
France's interior minister Laurent Nunez said on Monday that Champions League matches will go ahead this week, despite civil unrest in the country.
Violence has broken out across France, including Paris, with extensive property damage and "localized" curfews have put been put in place to prevent more rioting and looting.
Luis Enrique refused to talk about the tense political situation but insisted he had no fears over match security.
On the pitch, PSG are seeking to build on last week's 3-2 win at Manchester City, but Luis Enrique said the Barcelona game cannot be considered a dress rehearsal for the final in June.
He said: "The competition structure allows us to play in these games at this stage, but this does not show what the future may look like.
"What we do know is that we are both among the favourites. The real competition starts in April and not now."
Full-back Nuno Mendes misses out for PSG after picking up a thigh strain in Saturday's 3-1 league win at Strasbourg.
Barcelona's pre-match plans have been disrupted by injuries and bad weather.
With Eric Garcia and Jules Kounde both sidelined, boss Hansi Flick has a right-back issue to resolve, with 18-year-old academy defender Alex Campos added to the squad.
Barcelona beat Real Betis 5-2 on Saturday, but the squad were then forced to spend the night in Seville due to stormy weather and their return to Catalonia was delayed 14 hours.
"The most important thing is to recover," Flick said.
"See how we manage our minutes, and we'll see."
Flick has the opportunity to register his 100th win as Barcelona boss in just his 129th match in all competitions.
Coincidentally, only Luis Enrique has reached the mark quicker at Barcelona, achieving 100 wins in 126 games.Luis Enrique managed Messi at Barcelona between 2014 and 2017 and was asked to compare the Argentina great and 19-year-old Lamal at his press conference ahead
of Tuesday's heavyweight Champions League tie at Parc des Princes.
Source: Qatar Tribune
