Soccer legends stunned by Lamine Yamal performance: “Like watching Messi in his heyday”

Barcelona and Inter Milan played out a fascinating Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday, leaving the tie evenly balanced ahead of the second leg in Italy next week.

It was a game full of excitement and attacking quality, much of which came from Barcelona’s 17-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal. The La Masia-grown winger put in an exceptional performance; scoring a brilliant goal, hitting the woodwork twice and setting up countless opportunities for teammates.

A showing of such high quality, at this stage of an elite competition, is almost unheard of from a teenager and the world of soccer heaped praised on Yamal in the aftermath.

“It was Messi-esque,” CBS Sports pundit Jamie Carragher said after the game. “That was like watching Messi in his heyday. Getting the ball, the whole game just stopping to see what he’s going to do.”

Arsenal and Barcelona legend Thierry Henry was in disbelief at Yamal’s performance, saying: “It’s crazy to think that he’s 17 years old. It’s crazy, what he’s doing, it’s just abnormal.”

He continued: “We can talk about a lot of guys who are supposed to be on the throne. One thing that always amazes me in football is that you always think that no one’s going to be better... And then Lamine Yamal arrives.”

Watching on from home, Erling Haaland shared a screenshot of one of Yamal’s best plays on Wednesday with the caption: “This guy is incredible”.

It was a sentiment shared by Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi, who revealed that he had been forced to take drastic measures to stop the young Spaniard: “I haven’t seen a player like Lamine Yamal in the last eight or nine years. We had to put three players on him.”

Wednesday’s performances cemented Lamine Yamal’s status as a genuine Ballon d’Or contender, if it wasn’t already. The Spaniard has already achieved so much in his young career and is now propelling Barcelona towards a historic treble in 2024/25.

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