Champions League: Mbappe plays his ‘first El-Classico in PSG shirt’

After Paris Saint-Germain's late draw with lowly Clermont Foot on Saturday, Kylian Mbappe offered a rather ominous assessment of his side's upcoming Champions League fixture with Barcelona this Wednesday. "I'm not going to hide," he told Telefoot. "I'm sure we are going to give it our all."

His comments over the weekend, then, served as a battle cry of sorts for an opponent who are about to become a big part of Mbappe's life. The France captain is going to become very familiar with Barcelona over the next decade, such is the rivalry between his (likely) future club, Real Madrid, and the team he will face in Catalunya on Wednesday.

In this tie, he has the chance to launch a pre-emptive strike on the Blaugrana, as Los Blancos' next superstar is allowed to deliver a hefty blow to his soon-to-be arch-rivals before he even dons Madrid white for the first time.

Barca will face a far stronger Mbappe-led team than the current PSG once he moves to Madrid, but this is the chance to put down an early marker for both parties.

Even with Mbappe having been phased out of the line-up by his decision to leave, the Parisians still rely heavily on the Frenchman. His performance levels have certainly dropped in 2024, but zoom out and this is still a world-class talent who has scored 39 goals in 40 games in all competitions this season.

It would seem that stopping him, then, remains the most obvious route to stifling the Parisians. Of course, doing so will be no easy feat. Mbappe showed for France during the March international break and against Clermont Foot on Saturday that he can still be devastating.

Add to the mix that he has always pledged to bring European success to Paris, and there might not be a worse time to face one of the world's best. Certainly, Barca knows keeping him out is their best route to keeping their season alive as Madrid runs away with the Spanish title.

 But perhaps more than an isolated win, a result against this Mbappe-led side could be a statement of intent. Stopping the soon-to-be Madridista - and knocking his current employers out of the Champions League - could be just the boost Barca needs.

It, of course, won't be easy. Mbappe's ominous comments suggest this won't be a game he will shy away from. He has checked in and out of the Parisian set-up for months now, the subject of occasional boos from fans, protests from groups of ultras, and social media ridicule for his apparent disinterest in the team.

Still, this could be one of those nights for Mbappe. He has always been a big-game player; one only has to look at the World Cup final in which he came alive to score an emphatic hat-trick that nearly ruined Lionel Messi's fairy-tale Argentine ending.

If Barca can stifle him - or at least delay the misery he will look to impart on them in the years to come - then this could be a week to remember in Catalunya.