Barcelona star Lamine Yamal sent clear Chelsea warning as Estevao Willian joke made

Chelsea welcome Barcelona to Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night and Marc Cucurella has previewed the clash

Marc Cucurella has jokingly warned Lamine Yamal he could be in for a brutal battle as Chelsea welcome Barcelona to Stamford Bridge this evening.

Cucurella will come up against his Spanish international colleague for the first time with the Blues left-back facing the difficult challenge of trying to stop one of Europe’s most dangerous attacking players.

Yamal has been a revelation since breaking into the Barca first team back in 2023. The 18-year-old has scored 31 goals and recorded 42 assists for the Catalan side in 127 appearances across all competitions.

The Spain international has quickly established himself as one of the most feared opponents for full-backs, but Cucurella seems to be relishing the task ahead tonight.

“It’s difficult to play against them [type of players] because they have special talent and a lot of quality,” said Cucurella. “It’s not Lamine vs Cucurella. It’s a big game. We need to have a big game.”

Cucurella, tongue-in-cheek, added: “I tell [Estevao Willian] to put shin pads on in training because I start to train [for the game vs Barcelona].”

Naturally, given the age, position and talent of both, there have been comparisons between Estevao and Yamal drawn.

Asked to compare the two, Cucurella said: “I think both of them are very special players, they have a lot of talent, they always go to the ball, they always try to do the one-by-ones. They are these players, they can decide the games.

"And then I think maybe the only difference or at the moment the difference is that Lamine is playing in Europe for maybe two or three seasons and Estevao is arriving this season. But he's doing really well, I think he's continuing in his way and his level and improving in all the aspects.

“I think they are both very funny, they always try to love, they enjoy with the ball, they like to always have this smile on their face. So I think these players, if they feel happy, they come from it.”

Enzo Maresca revealed his delight with how Estevao is adapting and progressing at the club. Maresca believes Estevao, who was an unused substitute in the win over Burnley on Saturday afternoon, can become an enormous figure at Stamford Bridge, but the Italian refused to put too much pressure on the Brazil international by comparing him directly to Yamal.

“Estevao, he is going to be, for sure, an important player for this club for the future,” Maresca said. “Now again, for me personally, the most important thing for Estevao is that he has to enjoy football, he has to be happy, he has not to think about being better than this player or the other player, he has just to be better than himself day by day, try to work hard, improve. Again, for sure, he is going to be a top player for this club.”