Before the Clásico and the Ballon d'Or: Yamal tightens his grip on Mbappé

Yamal holds a 9-2 advantage over Mbappé ahead of the Clásico

Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé are set to go head to head twice in the space of 24 hours.

Round one comes on Sunday evening at the Spotify Camp Nou, where Barcelona host Real Madrid in La Liga. Round two follows on Monday in London, at the Ballon d'Or ceremony.

According to the Sport newspaper, Yamal has the psychological edge over Mbappé. The head-to-head record tells the story: nine wins for the Barcelona winger, just two for the France star.

Their first meeting on the pitch came in the 2023-2024 Champions League, when Mbappé was still at Paris Saint-Germain.

Barcelona won 3-2 at the Parc des Princes. The return leg at the Camp Nou went the other way, the Parisians sweeping aside their Catalan rivals 4-1 thanks to a Mbappé brace.

Yamal has scored six goals against the teams Mbappé has featured for, while the Frenchman has nine against the Catalan side from which Yamal graduated.

Kylian's other win came at the Santiago Bernabéu in last season's La Liga Clásico.

Everything else has gone Yamal's way, whether in the Clásico or in meetings between Spain and France, the latest being the semi-final of the 2026 World Cup.

Both started that night, and neither found the net as Luis de la Fuente's Spain ran out 2-0 winners.

Neither scored, either, in the last Barcelona-Real Madrid clash they played in, the Spanish Super Cup final, which Hansi Flick's Catalans edged 3-2.

Here's a curious twist: injury kept both men out of the last Clásico at the Spotify Camp Nou, a 2-0 Barcelona win last May that helped seal the La Liga title for the Catalans.

Neither has ever played a Barcelona-Real Madrid Clásico at the Spotify Camp Nou. Sunday will be the first.