You wonder what went through the mind of Alaves’ left-back, Manu Sanchez, three minutes into the game against Barcelona at Montjuic yesterday.
Lamine Yamal, the player 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 of 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 overall. The Catalans got a scrappy 1-0 win at home against a relegation-battling side in a must-win game, after Real Madrid lost across town 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 2024-25 title race feels more alive than ever as we enter February.
A packed fixture list on Madrid’s side, including a two-legged Champions League play-off against Manchester City on February 11 and 19, could do Barca, who are straight through to the round of 16 in March, a favour too.
But weeks and perhaps months will pass, and Yamal’s outrageous early solo run will linger in the minds of those who were present.
It is nothing new to see fans on the edge of their seats every time Yamal gets the football, but the sequence that started at 3:45 on the clock and finished 14 seconds later had most of the 42,900 attending at Montjuic roaring in excitement, louder and louder as he glided by 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 years old.
Let’s go back to the very start of this extraordinary move.
Yamal picked up possession on the right-hand side, his comfort zone, but in Barcelona’s half of the pitch. Sanchez was pressing him straight away, but the teenager shifted the ball back in the direction it came, wrongfooting his initial opponent immediately.
After he disarmed Sanchez with a shoulder feint and a dribble on his left foot, Alaves’ left-winger Tomas Conechny was there waiting to double up on the Spain international prodigy.
The 17-year-old shielded the ball, then burst past both players and cut inside towards a central area.
Sanchez admitted defeat at this point and returned to his left-back role, but Conechny chose to persevere, following Yamal and trying to grab his arm.
More backup was needed.
The attacking midfielder Jon Guridi now made an attempt to reach Yamal, but the latter was already operating in a different gear.
Antonio Blanco, one of the visitors’ holding midfielders, tried to step into Yamal but a quick flick of his left foot meant that tackle was useless. Yamal kept moving forward.
Now Conechny was back for round two, this time trying to perform a merciless sliding tackle. In some part of his peripheral vision, the Barca winger saw him coming and quickly switched his ball to the right foot — sending Conechny out for tapas.
Those in the Montjuic stands were loving every second of it, never wanting the run to end.
Guridi and Blanco now tried to take Yamal down again but failed again.
Alaves’ other holding midfielder, Ander Guevara, now stood in Yamal’s path and fancied his luck, but with so many players now 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.
GO DEEPER
Lamine Yamal’s trademark trivela: Dissecting the Barcelona star’s work of art
(Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
Raphinha took a shot at goal that went wide, though few in the stadium really cared. The fans were still roaring for Yamal, making the kind of comparisons in their heads with past Barcelona greats that managers understandably tend to 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 Alaves full-back Sanchez in an interview with Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo. And that was before yesterday’s match.
On a similar note, here is Barcelona’s starting goalkeeper, Wojciech Szczesny, in an interview with Italian media outlet 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 previous 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 on Sunday went beyond his jaw-dropping run. According to Opta, he attempted 20 dribbles and succeeded with 11 of them, and equalled the most by a Barcelona footballer in a single game since the 2005-06 season at least.
Guess whose record he matched…
Yes, it was Lionel Messi, in 2006-07 against Mallorca. He attempted 20 dribbles that day, completing 10 of them.
Yamal was also involved in the goal 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 Alaves defender Nahuel Tenaglia before reaching Lewandowski. Never mind. He still leads the league for that metric this season with 11 in 19 games.
His progression has been superb since breaking into the Barcelona first team last season, 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 the best way to handle Yamal. If, at the age of 17, he is already 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 the teenager’s mind can stay in the right place?
Last week, Flick subbed Yamal off in the dying minutes of their final league-phase match in the Champions League, against Atalanta. The teenager was visibly frustrated with the substitution, as he was enjoying himself after scoring one goal.
As he made his way to the bench, Flick stopped him and had a friendly chat to try to smooth things over. Yamal was then named man of the match, and therefore had some media duties to go through. Initially, he was not feeling in the mood to go and speak to broadcasters but eventually agreed to after a conversation 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 how Flick wants to protect Yamal from the public eye and excessive scrutiny during press conferences.
Straight after the win yesterday, he was asked about Yamal’s display and whether it was reminiscent of other club greats such as Messi and Diego Maradona.
“I am not a fan of comparisons and all that,” Flick 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.”
GO DEEPER
What makes Lamine Yamal such a special footballer?
(Top photo: Josep Lago/AFP via Getty Images)