Spanish full-back Marc Cucurella is preparing to go up against his compatriot Lamine Yamal tomorrow, Sunday, in the Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid at the Spotify Camp Nou.
According to Sport, Yamal had already fired his warning at Cucurella when he joked about Marc's move to Real Madrid in the summer of 2026.
Speaking last June on Tiempo de Juego on Cadena COPE radio, Yamal left no doubt about his ability to get the better of Cucurella in their individual duels.
Asked whether he had imagined what their Clasico duels would look like, and whether they had exchanged banter about it, Yamal replied with a laugh: "I told him he would start in the first match, and in the second match he would be a substitute, because I would devour him alive."
That answer did not go unnoticed. The Barcelona forward predicted Cucurella would struggle to stop him, and turned the looming duel into a running joke between the two friends and rivals.
Tomorrow is the moment to test how that rivalry transfers onto the pitch. This is Cucurella's first Clasico in a Real Madrid shirt, and it could prove one of the individual battles to shape the match.
Should both players start, the Spanish full-back faces a tall order. He will have to stop one of Barcelona's finest dribblers and difference-makers.
Yamal's words take on new meaning as kick-off nears. What was a passing remark last June, a joke and a personal challenge, now becomes a confrontation on the pitch, carrying all the tension and weight that come with a Clasico.
Self-belief is one of Yamal's defining traits. He never hides his strong personality when talking about his rivals.
Now football has the final word. Cucurella gets his chance to answer on the pitch, while Lamine will look to prove his prediction was no joke.