Marc Cucurella has spoken about the challenge of facing Lamine Yamal and the similarities he sees with Chelsea teammate Estevao. This comes ahead of Tuesday’s UEFA Champions League clash between Chelsea and Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
The Chelsea left-back is in a unique position to compare the pair, having shared a dressing room with Estevao at club level and with Yamal in the Spain national team. Both 18-year-old right wingers are seen as two of the brightest young talents in European football, regularly operating on the right and looking to drive at defenders in one-on-one situations.
Yamal has already become a key figure for Barcelona and Spain after breaking several age-related records and collecting major individual awards. Meanwhile, Estevao has arrived from Palmeiras as a highly rated Brazilian prospect following a big-money move to Stamford Bridge.
Speaking at his pre-match media duties on Monday, Cucurella highlighted just how special both youngsters are:
“Both of them are very special players, they have a lot of talent, they always want the ball and take on defenders one-on-one. They are these players that can decide the game.
“The only difference is that Lamine has played in Europe for two, three seasons, while Estevao has just arrived this season. But he (Estevao) is doing really well. I think if he continues this way, improving in all aspects, he can arrive at Lamine’s level.”
At the same time, Cucurella stressed that the focus remains on the collective. Chelsea and Barcelona are each chasing progress in the Champions League in what is expected to be a fiercely contested encounter between two heavyweight clubs.
Cucurella makes hilarious Estevao claim
Since Estevao and Yamal share so many stylistic traits, Cucurella admitted he has even used his Chelsea teammate as unusual preparation for facing the Barcelona star.
The Spain international jokingly said about his preparation:
“Yeah, Estevao, I tell him to put shin pads on in training because I start to train (for Yamal) with him,”
He then discussed the difficulty of defending against wide players of such quality:
“No, it’s difficult. These kinds of players are always difficult to play against because they have special talents and a lot of quality.
“Tomorrow is not Lamine vs Cucurella. It’s a big game, we have my teammates try to help me, and we try to have a big game, because we want to win this game.”It’s a tough battle, but hopefully we can do our best and win the game.”