Hansi Flick's reflects on Lamine Yamal's performance in UCL as he looks ahead to Barcelona's clash vs. Real Madrid for El Clasico on Sunday. (1:52)
Sunday's Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid could be decided by any number of different factors.
There might be a red card. A ball could hit the post for Barcelona and bounce out; a ball could hit the post for Real Madrid and bounce in. Barca's high-press under Hansi Flick could overwhelm a Madrid side that couldn't handle it last season. Or Barca's high-press could fall apart the way it did against Sevilla a few weeks ago.
Perhaps Madrid's more controlled tactics under Xabi Alonso will frustrate the chaos Barcelona typically likes to create. Or maybe a slow and methodical approach just won't work in such an emotionally charged environment. It certainly didn't in the Madrid derby. Maybe Trent Alexander-Arnold comes back from injury, and it saves Real Madrid. Maybe Alexander-Arnold comes back from injury and it saves Barcelona.
Soccer is a complex, dynamic and ever-changing game where everything is connected and interdependencies determine every outcome. That is true, but also: Kylian Mbappé and Lamine Yamal are playing in this game.
We've waited seven years, but El Clasico sure seems as if it has its new version of Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi. Neither player is as good as those two -- yet -- but they're two superstars who symbolize the current era of their clubs.
In Mbappé, we have the established superstar who did what so many top players seem to be doing now: ran down his contract and signed for Real Madrid as a free agent. And in Yamal, we have a teenage, right-footed left winger from La Masia whose emergence helped save a Barcelona club that was being run into the ground. It's only October, but these two players are already the two favorites to win next year's Ballon d'Or award, which is given to the best soccer player on the planet.
So, in the interest of not complicating things, let's just ask a simple question ahead of El Clasico on Sunday. For the rest of this season, who would you rather have: Mbappé or Yamal?
• Watch: El Clasico, Sunday, Oct. 26 -- live on ESPN+ or on ESPN2 • Read: Clásico head-to-head, form, key clashes, predictions, odds • Read: Are set pieces ruining the Premier League?
Since the start of last season, Mbappé has scored 32 non-penalty goals in LaLiga, and Yamal has 10. This is why all the outrage over Yamal not winning the Ballon d'Or last month was absurd. He's an attacker -- he scored nine non-penalty goals last season, and unlike Mbappé, he had to waste a lot of possessions to even get to nine.
