Barca’s young player Lamine Yamal made history this morning when he appeared for the Catalan team in the match against Napoli in the first leg of the 1/8 round of the Champions League.
By being in the starting lineup, Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to ever participate in the knockout round of Europe’s top club tournament at the age of 16 years and 223 days. This is another record for the talented young player from the La Masia academy, who has had many achievements in his young career. However, unfortunately, Yamal did not make much of an impression in the match where Barca was held to a 1-1 draw by Napoli and was replaced in the 80th minute to make way for Raphinha.
Yamal is a regular in the Catalan team’s squad in the 2023/24 campaign, having appeared in 35 matches in all competitions, including 25 appearances in La Liga, and also appeared in all 6 Champions League group stage match (3 starters, 3 substitutes) – scored 1 goal and contributed 1 assist. If counted from the beginning of the campaign, Yamal has 5 goals and 7 successful passes at the playgrounds he attended.
As the latest “gem” that the La Masia apprentice introduced at the beginning of the 2023/24 campaign, the winger born in 2007 made his mark right from the first matches he was given the opportunity and continuously set goals. historical milestone for yourself. He was also called up to the Spanish national team and also scored for La Roja in September 2023.
Yamal has continuously broken records at Barca and the Spain national team for nearly a year
Whether Yamal can advance to the star level or not is still unknown. However, this young star has proven his great potential by breaking a series of records. Let’s review Yamal’s historical milestones in Barca and Spain colors up to this point.
– On April 29, 2023, Yamal, at the age of 15 years, 9 months and 16 days, broke the record to become the youngest player to play for Barca held by Ansu Fati (16 years, 9 months and 25 days). ) when he was brought on as a substitute in the match against Real Betis.
– On August 20, 2023, Yamal made his first start for Barca in the match against Cadiz at the age of 16 years and 38 days. Not only did Yamal help Blaugrana win 3 points against Cadiz, Yamal also set a record for becoming the youngest player to ever start in the team’s history. Yamal also broke this record in La Liga, held by Fabrice Olinga.
– One week later, on August 27, 2023, Yamal had an assist to help Barca win 4-3 against Villarreal. This achievement helped him become the youngest player to have an assist in La Liga in the 21st century, at the age of 16 years and 45 days, surpassing the previous record of Juanmi Jimenez (Malaga – 2010).
– Yamal also became the youngest player to ever start in the Champions League, at just 16 years and 83 days old, in the match against Porto in the second match of the group stage. He broke the nearly 30-year record that Celestine Babayaro created for Anderlecht in 1994.
– On October 8, 2023, Yamal broke Ansu Fati’s record to become the youngest player to score for the club (16 years and 87 days) when he scored in a 2-2 draw with Granada. This goal also helped Yamal become the youngest player to score in La Liga history, surpassing the record of Olinga – who scored for Malaga in 2012 at the age of 16 years and 98 days.
– Previously, in September 2023, coach Luis de la Fuente called Yamal to the Spain national team for the EURO 2024 qualifiers and came on as a substitute in the match against Georgia. At 16 years and 57 days old, he surpassed Gavi’s record of youngest player to appear for La Roja in 2021. At that time, Gavi was almost 1 year older than Yamal.
– Also in the match against Georgia, Yamal only took 20 minutes on the field to make his mark with the winning goal 7-1. This goal helped him surpass his Barca teammate Gavi to hold the record for the youngest player to score for La Roja. Gavi scored for Spain in the match against the Czech Republic in the Nations League in June 2022 when he was nearly 18 years old, nearly 2 years older than Yamal.