A comparison of Mbappé's Real Madrid and Yamal's Barcelona ahead of their first clasico

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — When Real Madrid added Kylian Mbappé, Barcelona looked doomed to becoming a regular runner-up to its fierce rival.

Then Hansi Flick arrived with fresh ideas, Lamine Yamal blossomed into a star, his teammates stepped up their game, and Saturday’s clasico promises to be a highly entertaining and close-fought match.

It will be the first clasico for Mbappé and Flick. Barcelona leads La Liga by three points from second-placed Madrid.

Here is a line-by-line look at the teams set to face off at the Santiago Bernabeu.

Real Madrid became the envy of soccer when Mbappé walked away from Paris Saint-Germain and joined Madrid as a free agent last summer.

He has teamed up with the already brilliant Vinícius Júnior to form the most lethal one-two punch in soccer, especially when either has any room to dribble at defenses caught off guard.

They have scored eight goals across all competitions, while Vinícius also has seven assists. Vinícius arrives in particularly great form after his hat trick fueled a 5-2 comeback from two goals down against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday.

But with Rodrygo doubtful and Endrick unused by coach Carlo Ancelotti in recent games, Barcelona collectively may be able to counter Madrid’s firepower up front.

Robert Lewandowski is playing at his best since arriving in Barcelona. Under Flick, his former coach at Bayern Munich, the 36-year-old Poland striker has scored 15 times, including a league-leading 12.

Raphinha has morphed from a hard-working winger into a scorer and team leader.

The Brazilian struck his second hat trick of the season — and his career — to power Barcelona’s 4-1 rout of Bayern in the Champions League on Wednesday. He has nine goals and a team-high eight assists overall in this campaign.

Yamal has chipped in with five goals and seven assists after helping Spain win the European Championship in July and is an unpredictable playmaker from his spot on the right. He upstaged Mbappé when the then-16-year-old scored the goal of Euro 2024 as Spain beat France in the semifinals.

For the first time since the departure of Andrés Iniesta, Barcelona can field a midfield that is at least more creative, if not better, than Madrid’s.

Flick has plenty of options. Pedri delivers the final pass, Dani Olmo gives it scoring, and Flick has plucked a fine holding midfielder in Marc Casadó from the La Masia training academy.

Barcelona can also call on Netherlands mainstay Frenkie de Jong, Olympic gold medalist Fermín López, Pablo Torre, and Gavi Páez, who recently returned from a serious leg injury.

While Barcelona has more finesse, Madrid is struggling to find its flow in attack without those great long passes that the now retired Toni Kroos delivered season after season.

The Madrid midfield should, however, have more scoring punch thanks to the attacking instincts of Jude Bellingham and Federico Valverde. Bellingham delivered late winners in both of Madrid’s clásico victories last season.

Ancelotti could use a four-man midfield and include Luka Modric or Eduardo Camavinga to play along with stopper Aurélien Tchouaméni.

Madrid will have to manage without serial winner Dani Carvajal after his season-ending leg injury. Lucas Vázquez will likely take his place at right back and have to tangle with Yamal.

Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger provide Madrid with a solid anchor with Ferland Mendy on the left.

Jules Koundé is enjoying his strongest season yet for Barcelona and will have another go at Vinícius. Ínigo Martínez will likely partner with 17-year-old Pau Cubarsí to try to stop Mbappé in the middle, while Alejando Balde patrols the left flank.

Both teams will be without their top goalkeepers. Andriy Lunin is in for the injured Thibaut Courtois after performing admirably in the Belgian's place for a long period of last season. Iñaki Peña still has to prove he is the right player to replace Marc-Andre ter Stegen. If not, then Wojciech Szczesny could take his spot for Barcelona.

Flick’s Barcelona is no longer dragged down by its obsession to control the ball. The German manager has Barcelona attacking with speed, and players like Raphinha and Yamal are thriving

Barcelona actually lost the possession game against Bayern, 58%-42%, while not suffering in defense. That shift would have been unthinkable under previous coaches like Xavi Hernández.

Ancelotti, meanwhile, is having to deal with a problem that any coach would love to have: How to fit Mbappé and Vinícius in the same lineup since they both like to play on the left flank.

As Bellingham said last season when Madrid won La Liga and the European Cup, the strength of Ancelotti is in letting his players just get on with it and exploit their talents.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Players train at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sept. 16, 2024, ahead of a Champions League soccer match between VfB Stuttgart and Real Madrid. (AP Photo/Paul White, file)

FILE - Barcelona's head coach Hansi Flick sits at the bench during a Spanish La Liga soccer match between Osasuna and Barcelona at El Sadar stadium in Pamplona, Spain, Sept. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses, file)

FILE - Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe celebrates after scoring his side's second goal during the UEFA Super Cup Final soccer match between Real Madrid and Atalanta at the Narodowy stadium in Warsaw, Poland, Aug. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic, file)

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis issued the fourth encyclical of his papacy on Thursday, denouncing a world that “is losing its heart” during times of global turmoil marked by “wars, socio-economic disparities and the uses of technology that threaten our humanity.”

The document titled “Dilexit Nos,” Latin for “He Loves Us,” was issued to coincide with the 350th anniversary of St. Margaret Mary Alocoque's first apparition, which helped spread devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus revealing his love of humanity.

The social encyclical appeals to the faithful to “meditate” on Jesus’ love in a world in which consumerism and algorithms obscure humanity. It is his fourth encyclical, the best-known of which to date is the 2015 “Laudato Si,” or “Praised Be,” which cast care for the environment in moral terms.

In “Dilexit Nos,” the pontiff did not cite specific examples of global turmoil in the 220-paragraph document issued in eight languages, although he frequently refers to conflicts from Ukraine to Gaza in homilies, weekly prayers and global travels.

Francis often asks for prayers for the “martyred” people of Ukraine and most recently cited “inhumane attacks” in Gaza. In the Middle East conflict, he has tended to take a balanced line, often mentioning Israel and the hostages still held by Hamas alongside the suffering of the Palestinians.

In the document, the pontiff said the failure to “feel that something is intolerable” in the suffering on both sides of conflict “is a sign of a world that has grown heartless.”

“When we witness the outbreak of new wars, with the complicity, tolerance or indifference of other countries, or petty power struggles over partisan interests, we may be tempted to conclude that our world is losing its heart,’’ he wrote.

The pope warned that consumer-driven societies “dominated by the hectic pace and bombarded by technology,” risked interfering with the possibility of engaging with an “interior life.”

He noted that algorithms have revealed that “our thoughts and will are much more ‘uniform’ than we had previously thought. They are easily predictable and thus capable of being manipulated.”

In an era of artificial intelligence, "we cannot forget that poetry and love are necessary to save our humanity,’’ he wrote.

Vatican encyclicals are the most authoritative form of papal teaching and traditionally take their titles from the first two words of the document.

Mons. Bruno Forte, a theologian who is archbishop of the Italian diocese of Chiet-Vasto, said the “Dilexit Nos” encyclical "can be truly considered as a summary of everything that Pope Francis has said and wishes to say to our brothers in humanity. He says, ‘God loves you and has shown you in the best way, through Jesus.’'

Forte said the document should not be viewed as “just a spiritual refuge,” but as a proposal of “love, mutual reception and forgiveness.”

Monsignor Bruno Forte, right, and Sister Antonella Fraccaro pose for a photo with a copy of the Pope Francis' encyclical titled "Dilexit Nos," Latin for "He Loves Us," after a press conference for its presentation at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Monsignor Bruno Forte talks during a press conference for the presentation of the Pope Francis' encyclical titled "Dilexit Nos," Latin for "He Loves Us," at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

A copy of Pope Francis' encyclical titled "Dilexit Nos," Latin for "He Loves Us," is shown after a press conference for its presentation at the Vatican, Thursday, Oct. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

FILE -Pope Francis attends a session of the 16th General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops at the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, Oct. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini, File)