You wonder what went through the mind of the Alaves left-back Manu Sanchez, three minutes into the game against Barcelona at Montjuic yesterday.
Lamine Yamal, the man who Sanchez was assigned to mark for the next 87 minutes or so of his life, had dribbled past him and four other team-mates in practically his first involvement in the match.
Sanchez would have been forgiven for thinking he might be in for a long afternoon.
In a way, Alaves can be happy with how they contained Barcelona. The Catalans got a scrappy 1-0 win against a relegation-battling side in a must-win game, after Real Madrid lost against Espanyol the night before. Hansi Flick’s side are now four points behind their main rivals at the top of La Liga, and the title race feels more live than ever. A packed fixture list on Madrid’s side, with the two-legged Champions League playoff against Manchester City in the coming weeks, could do Barca a favour too.
But weeks and perhaps months will pass, and Yamal’s outrageous solo run will linger in the minds of those who were present at Montjuic.
It is nothing new to see fans on the edge of their seats every time Yamal gets possession of the football, but the sequence that started with 3:45 on the clock and finished 14 seconds later had 42,900 attending at Montjuic roaring in excitement, louder and louder as Yamal glided his way past opponent after opponent.
Lamine Yamal. 🤩 #LALIGAHighlights | @FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/DNKZSow4Kt
— LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) February 2, 2025
It’s sometimes easy to forget that Lamine Yamal is still only 17.
Let’s go back to the very start of this extraordinary move.
Yamal received the ball on the right hand-side, his comfort zone, but in Barcelona’s half of the pitch. Manu Sanchez was pressing him straight away, but the teenager shifted the ball back in the direction it came, wrongfooting his opponent immediately.
He disarmed Sanchez with a shoulder feint and a dribble on his left foot, and there was Alaves left-winger Tomas Conechny waiting to double up on the Spain prodigy.
The 17-year-old shielded the ball and then burst past the two players and cut inside towards a central area.
Sanchez admitted defeat at this point and returned to his left-back role, but Conechny decided to persevere, following Yamal and trying to grab his arm.
More back-up was needed.
The attacking midfielder Jon Guridi made an attempt to reach Yamal, but he was already operating in a different gear.
The holding midfielder Antonio Blanco tried to step into Yamal but a quick flick of his left foot meant that Blanco’s tackle was useless. Yamal kept moving forward.
Now Conechny was back, this time trying to perform a merciless sliding tackle. In some part of his peripheral vision, the Barca winger saw the tackle coming and quickly switched his ball to the right foot – sending Conechny for a hotdog.
Those in the Montjuic stands were loving every second of it, never wanting it to end. Guridi and Blanco tried to take Yamal down again but failed.
The Alaves holding midfielder Ander Guevara now stood in Yamal’s path and fancied trying his luck, and with so many players crowded around him, Yamal opted to find his team-mate Raphinha in plenty of space out on the left-hand side.
With a trivela pass.
(Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Raphinha took a shot at goal but it went wide, and few really cared at this point. The fans were still roaring for Yamal, making the kind of comparisons in their heads with past Barcelona greats that managers often try to downplay, for fear of inflaming the hype. But Yamal is no ordinary talent.
“Lamine is already one of the best players in the world, to be honest,” said Manu Sanchez (remember him from the fourth minute?) in an interview with Mundo Deportivo. That was before the match.
On a similar note, here’s the Barcelona starting goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, in an interview with La Gazzetta Dello Sport last week.
“For me, they’re the two biggest talents I’ve seen in my life, both (Kenan) Yildiz (at Szczesny’s former club Juventus) and Yamal. They’re very different because Lamine, technically, it’s absurd. Yildiz is stronger physically. He’s already ready physically. But technically Lamine is, it’s so impressive. So it’s really hard to make a comparison but they’re two extraordinary talents and in my opinion they’ll both do big things.”
Yamal’s performance went beyond his jaw-dropping run. According to Opta, he attempted 20 dribbles, succeeding in 11, and equaled the most ever by a Barcelona footballer since the 2005-2006 season at least.
Guess whose record he matched…
That was Lionel Messi in the 2006-07 against Mallorca. He attempted 20 dribbles, completing 10 of them.
Yamal was also involved in the match-winner against Alaves, which was scored by Robert Lewandowski when he tapped in a volleyed shot by the teenager. La Liga did not count it as an assist, as Yamal’s attempt deflected off the defender Nahuel Tenaglia before reaching Lewandowski, but he still leads league for assists with 11 in 19 games.
His progression has been superb since breaking into the first team, and those around the club feel blessed to have such a talent on their hands.
In the back of their minds, though, there is a silent debate over what is the best way to handle Yamal. If at the age of 17 he is so fundamental to the club’s overall project, what is coming next for him? What is the best way to make sure his development stays on the right track, or to be sure that teenager’s mind can stay in the right place?
Last week, Flick subbed Yamal off in the dying minutes of their Champions League game against Atalanta. The teenager was visibly frustrated with the substitution, as he was enjoying himself after scoring one goal.
On his way to the Barcelona bench, Flick stopped him and had a friendly chat with Yamal to smooth things over. He was named man of the match by UEFA, and therefore had some media duties to go through. Initially, Yamal was not feeling in the mood to go and speak to broadcasters, but eventually acceded after a chat with the club’s press officers.
(Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
It was described more as a heat-of-the-moment situation rather than anything with a deeper significance from those in the dressing room, but in a way reflects the way Flick wants to protect Yamal from the public eye and excessive scrutiny during press conferences.
Straight after the win against Alaves, Flick was asked about Yamal’s display and whether it was reminiscent of other club greats such as Lionel Messi or Diego Armando Maradona.
“I am not a fan of comparisons and all that,” he said. “Lamine is a genius; I’ve already said that in the past. What he did today in some situations was unbelievable. I am so happy that he is a Barca player and I want him to do this week after week.
“Again, he is just 17.”
(JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)
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