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4 months ago
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After his extraordinary ceremony at the Santiago Bernabéu, Kylian Mbappé was officially presented to journalists from around the world during a traditional press conference. Indeed, the now former Paris Saint-Germain player underwent all the medical tests, before taking the first official photos alongside Florentino Pérez, president of the Madrid club, at the time of signing his five-year contract. The Bondynois then arrived in the Santiago Bernabéu lair for a presentation in front of the 80,000 socios and Real Madrid supporters present in the stands of the stadium. Music, singing, podium, giant screen… The management had pulled out all the stops. A way to sublimate this historic day, but also to send a message to the Spanish and European competition. In Catalonia, the arrival of Mbappé was obviously one of the topics on everyone’s lips in recent hours, but contrary to what one might believe, the Blaugrana are not afraid, nor jealous of the offensive armada that the Merengues are currently creating, now made up of Vinicius, Rodrygo, Jude Bellingham, Endrick, Arda Güler and Kylian Mbappé.
While Kylian Mbappé met his teammates, his staff and the journalists present, FC Barcelona continued to refine its project, including a visit to the construction site of its stadium, making it official that the club will play again at the Spotify Camp Nou at the end of this year. This was reiterated by the institutional vice-president, Elena Fort, in an interview with Agencia Efe, and the Barça club itself was responsible for reconfirming it with an impact image with Joan Laporta leading the visit. The Barça president was accompanied by Hansi Flick and Deco, coach and sporting director respectively, as well as three stars of the team who are returning from the celebration of the victory of Euro 2024: Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Gavi, who experienced the final and the party despite the latter not being able to play the tournament due to a serious injury. They all visited the works of the culé temple. A way to respond to Real Madrid by showing the friendliness and the perfect atmosphere as the off-season approaches, explains the Catalan newspaper World Sports.
Barça is not afraid of the new Galacticos!
The day after this grand presentation at the Santiago Bernabéu, the Catalan press was forced to talk about the news of its biggest rival with one constant, however. Despite the exceptional day and the golden program of Kylian Mbappé’s first day in Madrid, FC Barcelona and the Catalan journalists also asked themselves the following question: “From there, should Barça, which is, a priori, the one that will suffer the most from this ‘supergalactic’ team, really be afraid of its great rival?” wrote the Catalan daily SPORT in an article titled “Not afraid of Mbappé”, before arguing in favor of the Culés’ sporting project. Indeed, the pens of the Barcelona newspaper begin by explaining that even if the management still has to close some files to build the final model wanted by Hansi Flick, Barça already has all the ingredients to look Real Madrid in the eye, including in particular “the explosion of Lamine Yamal and the development of nuggets like Pau Cubarsí, Fermín, Gavi“Lamine Yamal’s Euro 2024 has something to reassure all Catalan and other supporters, SPORT specifies that “At the age of 17, Mataró’s darling threatens to take the throne of Mbappé, Haaland and company, as he has taken all the spotlight by becoming a media icon of the tournament in Germany above the constellation of stars that participated in it.“, without forgetting to recall that Lamine Yamal “ridiculed Kylian Mbappé” during the semi-final between Spain and France. But the newspaper SPORT does not stop. Hostilities have already begun.
With the probable arrival of Nico Williams, who is coming off a flamboyant Euro, there is enough to make all of Catalonia salivate: “If Barça sign Nico Williams, Barça will certainly have more projection for the future with Lewandowski of reference above, Gündogan, Gavi, Pedri, Fermín, Koundé, Cubarsí, Balde, Araujo, there is no general fear of seeing Real Madrid stroll as well in domestic competitions as in Europe” And finally, the author of this long analysis in the columns of SPORT concludes by recalling that FC Barcelona has reason to be much more proud and reassured about their sporting project, in comparison to that of Real Madrid which carries a certain financial risk: “The chronic Real Madrid-Barça rivalry will once again be symbolised by the millions against the pool of youngsters. Because the white club, even more so without Nacho, will be an agglomeration of footballers signed with big bucks. If they recruit good youngsters, Carlo Ancelotti never includes players from La Fabrica in his plans. Being a young Madrilenian is synonymous with having no hope of succeeding or even starting with the first team. At Barça, the backbone and the greatest pride come from the bowels of the club. From a whole career process that begins with the detections, followed by those responsible for the methodology, with the youth coaches and the coordinators“. If El Clasico is already the most followed and mediatized match on the planet, this 2024/25 season will mark the return of the glorious hours of these games. Not only for the simple presence of Mbappé, but for the growth of Lamine Yamal and the hypothetical arrival of Nico Williams. Several of the most fashionable footballers on the planet will meet at the Bernabéu and the new Spotify Camp Nou (27/10 in Madrid and 11/05 in Barcelona).
