Lamine Yamal is a devourer of precocity records. He achieves them at the same speed at which he climbs steps in his meteoric sports career. After becoming the youngest scorer in the history of the League and the Spanish team, on Thursday he became the youngest scorer in the Super Cup. For the final, another challenge awaits him, being the youngest footballer to score in a classic. If the pools don’t blow up, he will have the opportunity to try.
Because if he has participated in all the matches of the season, except in Barbastro in the Cup due to suspension, the normal thing is that he also plays against Madrid. And more so because Raphinha’s injury leaves a free space on the right flank, the place where Xavi usually places him. Against Osasuna he relieved the Brazilian and did so by improving his performance. Filtering passes with care, not averse to overflow, being vertical and scoring the winning goal. “We are very happy to be in the final and with a lot of confidence. I really want to play against Madrid and if the coach gives me the starting job I will be very happy,” says the boy, who doesn’t turn 17 until July. He already played a few minutes against Madrid in Montjuïc but it would be his first classic as a starter, and in a final. There it is nothing.
Barça does not have an abundance of talent and the boy’s freshness can be an unbalancing element. He only has two goals (the one he scored in Granada and the one on Thursday) but he can be seen dominating the spaces and understanding the game with astonishing naturalness. He would have a bone like Mendy in front of him. “For me on a defensive level he is the best left back in the world,” says Ancelotti. But the Barça boy has not given in to anyone and that is also what Xavi maintains. “If he plays I will ask him for self-confidence, talent and individual quality. He has to demonstrate his talent, he will not be weighed down by the stage because he has the personality to make a difference even as a teenager. Having Mendy, Fran García, or Camavinga in front of him will surely bring out his talent.”
Lamine is pure fantasy, an ingredient that they also have in Madrid with footballers who are surprising, like Brahim Díaz. Even more so, Lamine (24 years old) is earning his minutes by fire, he is showing quality in abundance whether as a starter or as a substitute and is contributing goals (6) and vision of the game. When he goes out on the field, things happen and that is the best thing that can be said about a footballer who trained at City, who was then on loan from Madrid to Milan and who does not want to waste this moment in which he finally seems to have found his place. He is the only member of the white squad who has scored in all four competitions after winning the derby against Atlético. To the point that Carlo Ancelotti has not stopped recognizing that in the first months of the season he was not fair to him and that he should have given him more minutes. As the weeks have passed, Brahim has multiplied his presence.
“I’m very happy. I didn’t return to Madrid just to be a luxury substitute. In the end the field always ends up speaking. I am passionately celebrating being here,” says the playmaker, who has set his goal of being part of the national team’s squad for the Euro Cup. A tournament in which he could be a perfect partner for Lamine Yamal. Tonight they will be rivals.
