Lamine Yamal, goal machine
When a player is truly special, you can tell straight away. These days, Lamine Yamal is one of the most decisive footballers on the planet. His influence on the game is everywhere to be seen. In attack, he provides solutions both in tight, hard-fought matches and in open, flowing ones. To his dribbling ability he adds excellent vision when it comes to setting up team-mates. And in recent weeks, we have also seen him grow into another aspect of his game: goals. The winger is becoming more and more clinical in front of goal, as shown by his run of four consecutive matches on the scoresheet.
Youngest ever
By now, there is no doubt that Lamine has the soul of a leader. On the pitch, he is calm and composed, a player who never grumbles, who lets the ball do the talking. With his stunning goal against Albacete, he has now scored in four straight matches across all competitions, a feat shared by only a handful of the club’s greats.
Since the 2013/14 season, just eight players have managed it: Leo Messi (19 times), Luis Suárez (10), Robert Lewandowski (5), Neymar (5), Ousmane Dembélé, Raphinha, Ferran Torres and now him.
But Lamine is the youngest player in La Liga history to achieve it, at just 18 years and 205 days. Among Barça players, the next youngest were Paulino Alcántara (19 years and 44 days) and Vicenç Martínez (19 years and 120 days). Yet another record to add to his growing collection.
More than Maradona
The number 10 is enjoying an outstanding season. After overcoming the physical issues that hampered him early on, Lamine has now been involved in 26 goals across all competitions. That's 14 goals and 12 assists.
What’s more, thanks to his latest strike, he has now overtaken Diego Maradona in goals scored in a Barça shirt, with 39 in total. He currently sits 71st in the club’s all-time scoring chart, but there is little doubt that, in the years to come, he will climb higher.
Much higher.