Lamine Yamal went out of his way to hype up his return to the Barcelona line-up for Wednesday night’s Champions League clash with Paris Saint-Germain at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys. The 18-year-old posted a clip on his Instagram account from the movie ‘The Devil’s Advocate’ in which Al Pacino’s character, John Milton, discusses the effects of pressure: “Some people, you squeeze ’em, they focus; others fold. Can you summon your talent at will? Can you deliver on a deadline? Can you sleep at night?”

Yamal then posted a picture of himself from Spain’s Euro 2024 triumph, accompanied by the words: “Pressure? I’m back and the mission is back too.” The mission in question was Barcelona’s bid to prove themselves the best team in Europe – which Yamal’s team-mate Pedri insisted they already were on the eve of the game against PSG.

Admittedly, there’s nothing wrong with self-belief; on the contrary, it’s absolutely essential at the highest level of sport. But there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance, and the problem with big talk is that it can make you look ridiculous if you don’t back it up. Wednesday night was a perfect case in point.