They shine wherever they play. Lamine Yamal and Pedri put on a wonderful performance with the world watching on, this time in a Spain shirt. The blaugranes were key players in the 5-4 Spain win over France in the Nations League semifinal, with the Catalan scoring two and the Canary Islander finishing a beautiful move himself. The game also saw Dani Olmo and Gavi come on in the second half.

Penalty scored after fouled

Lamine Yamal got better as the game went on. In the first half he played a good pass through to Oyarzabal in the area in the lead up to Nico Williams scoring, but the second half saw the young blaugrana star really come to the party.

The French defence fell prey to his run into the box when Rabiot's challenge as he was about to shoot led to a penalty being called, which VAR confirmed. The Catalan then kept his usual cool and shot the penalty low to Maignan's left – who dived right – to make it 3-0 on the night for De la Fuente's side.

Pedri's goal to make it 4-0 came next – more about that in a second – but Lamine got his brace when the forward received a pass played down the right, held off the defender, and stabbed the ball into the far corner of the goal.

Pulling the strings and scoring

Forwards like Lamine Yamal tend to catch the eye more and with good reason, but players like Pedri are equally important on the pitch. Yet again, the midfielder was vital to how Spain play and his superb performance was rounded off by a quality goal. A great touch in the centre of the park saw him free to move towards the French penalty area. He then laid off the ball to the left, continued his run, received it again, and after a fine touch to get it under control, fired it over the onrushing Maignan. A true work of art.

Gavi back playing for Spain

With the game almost in the bag, another blaugrana got some action, and it was a sweet moment for said player, as Gavi was back on the pitch for Spain for the first time after his serious injury while playing for La Roja in a 2024 UEFA European Championship qualifier back on 19 November 2023.

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