Barcelona’s teenage sensation Lamine Yamal has been told he is still only the ‘third-best player in the world’ despite his Champions League heroics against Inter Milan.
Yamal, 17, helped keep Barca in their semi-final tie against Inter with a quite brilliant performance at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium.
Barcelona appeared to have a mountain to climb when Inter Milan went 2-0 up inside 22 minutes, Marcus Thuram scoring the fastest goal in a Champions League semi-final and Denzel Dumfries doubling the visitors’ lead to silence the home crowd.
But Yamal got Barcelona back into the contest with a quite brilliant strike, making his 100th appearance for the club with a 22nd goal to add to his 33 assists.
Yamal also hit the woodwork twice in a dazzling display that left many pundits and fans wondering whether the Euro 2024 winner was already the best player in the world.
That debate was put to Inter’s French striker Thuram after the game but he claimed two of his compatriots were at a higher level.
‘I don’t think so,’ Thuram told Canal Plus when asked whether Yamal was already the best in the business.
‘The best player in the world is French, the second-best player in the world is also French. Maybe Lamine is the third best.’
Thuram went on to identify Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe and Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele as the two best players on the planet.
Despite Inter Milan taking an early 2-0 lead, Barcelona were level at the half-time interval thanks to Yamal’s stunning goal and a Ferran Torres tap in.
Dumfries scored from another corner on the hour mark to restore Inter’s lead but Barcelona came back once again and clinched a 3-3 draw through a Yann Sommer own goal.
The stalemate leaves the semi-final tie perfectly poised ahead of the return leg in Milan next week. The winner will face PSG or Arsenal in the 2025 Champions League final.
Assessing Yamal’s incredible performance against Inter, Ally McCoist said on TNT Sports: ‘I don’t think I have seen a 45 minutes like that from one individual before in my life. It is unbelievable.’
Inter Milan boss Simone Inzaghi, meanwhile, said: ‘Lamine is the kind of talent that comes along every 50 years, and to see him up close really impressed me.
‘He caused us huge problems because we were supposed to double up on him and it wasn’t enough.’
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick added: ‘He’s special, he’s a genius. In the big matches, he shows up.
‘If it only comes every 50 years like Simone said, I’m glad it’s for Barcelona.’
Given the extraordinary start to Yamal’s Barcelona career and his style of play, the teenager has naturally been compared to Lionel Messi, one of the greatest players of all time.
Asked about those comparisons before Barca’s Champions League semi-final, Yamal said: ‘I don’t compare myself to him, because I don’t compare myself to anyone – and much less with Messi.
‘I don’t think the comparison makes sense, with Messi even less – I’m going to enjoy myself, and be myself.’
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