The only player to stop Lamine Yamal this season

Perched on of the advertising boards, legs swinging, with the rest of Camp Nou looking down from above, Lamine Yamal took a deep breath. His mouth was smiling, braces glinting in the flash of the cameras, but there was relief in his eyes.

The photo opportunity after the penalty scored against Newcastle United in the second leg of the Champions League Round of 16 put Barcelona ahead 3-2 on the night, and it served as a payoff of having been through hell a week earlier.

Lamine Yamal finished the first leg in Newcastle without completing a dribble. In fact, he could hardly attempt to do so. The player most feared in Europe, not old enough to drive a HGV but good enough to be compared to Messi, coming up short against Lewis Hall was a challenge he had not expected.

The Newcastle full-back overwhelmed the Spanish winger in the first leg, closing off the space inside that Lamine Yamal has already moved to dominate in the few seasons he has played as a professional. And when Lamine went outside, something he is rarely forced to do, Hall was there again. Normally it takes 2 or 3 players put in a line to stop Lamine; Hall beat him for pace, power, and agility all in one.

Despite the struggle, he got on the scoresheet. But the goal, like in the second leg, had to come from the spot, with Olmo’s late fall at the legs of Thiaw a lifeline in the tie. It was a last-minute equaliser that revived the spirit of the Catalan side so used to relying on their right-winger who was utterly silenced all night long.

Of course, after such a performance, media reports emerged that Barcelona were interested in signing the player in the latest case of ‘if you can’t beat him, sign him’. Hall is only 14 months older than Lamine, and has a contract at Newcastle until 2029, meaning they are under no threat of him leaving for free. However, a viral performance puts him into the sights of many, and into the mind of the winger he tormented on that night in England.

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