Jose Mourinho rejects altering Real Madrid’s identity for Lamine Yamal ahead of Barcelona clash
The first Clasico of the season is almost here, and with it comes Jose Mourinho’s return to Camp Nou as Real Madrid manager. Ahead of the match on Sunday, the Portuguese coach faced the press and addressed several of the main storylines surrounding the game, including one of Barcelona’s biggest stars.
Asked about Lamine Yamal, Mourinho made it clear that Real Madrid will not tailor their approach to the young winger. “He’s a great player, and great players are respected,” he said. “One thing is respecting, another is changing plans, changing structures, forgetting your own essence. We won’t do that with him or with any other super-quality opponent we play, not just in this match, but in many matches“.
The former Chelsea and Inter Milan manager kept a conciliatory tone toward his rivals throughout the news conference. He said he could not find a single player who isn’t very good at either Real Madrid or Barcelona, and he praised Hansi Flick, calling the German coach “a great coach” who is “doing an excellent job.”
Barcelona arrive at El Clasico as clear LaLiga leaders, with a perfect record of nine wins from nine matches and 27 points. The defending champions had won their first 11 games across all competitions, a run that ended with a 4-2 defeat at PSG in the Champions League in their latest fixture.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, sit third with 21 points after winning seven league games and losing two, and they arrive on the back of 4-1 wins over Sevilla in LaLiga and Leipzig in the Champions League.
see also
Kylian Mbappe fires warning to Barcelona, Lamine Yamal ahead of El Clasico and Ballon d’Or gala
Kounde and Vinicius ruled out of El Clasico
Barcelona will be without Jules Kounde, who suffered a sprained left ankle in last weekend’s win over Real Betis and also missed the Champions League defeat at PSG.
The club had hoped to have the French defender back for the Clasico, but Hansi Flick confirmed that it will not happen. “Jules won’t be there tomorrow, we don’t want to risk him, he isn’t arriving at the right moment, but we have to accept it,” the German coach said.
Real Madrid will also have to cope without a key attacker, as Vinicius Junior is serving a four-game ban after his red card against Villarreal for pulling an opponent’s hair.
The Spanish federation’s disciplinary committee gave him two games for the offense and two more for his protests to the referee. The suspension has already kept him out of the win over Sevilla and will also rule him out of the matches against Racing Santander and Valencia.
