Lamine Yamal, Barcelona’s 17-year-old wonderkid, is the Catalan’s youngest weapon in clutch moments. His flair is not just translated against mid-tier teams; he also brings the same energy and class against top La Liga sides. It was proven again last night as he bagged two assists in the finale against Real Madrid and continued his hot form against Los Blancos. Let’s dissect his stats vs top rivals and debate how decisive Yamal is.
The Teenage Prodigy Has Outshined Veterans in El Clasico
Lamine Yamal’s first clasico test wasn’t very promising. But what about this season? Yamal has featured in 3 clasicos this season and dominated all three. He has been so phenomenal in these three biggest games of the season that not only he scored 2 goals and 2 assists in all games, but he also managed to outshine veterans like Vinicius, Kylian Mbappe and Bellingham, that too, by a mile.
He has been Barca’s point of difference against Real Madrid, as last night his breath taking assists and flair snatched the game away from Los Blancos. The youngster has made it clear that whenever the stakes are highest, he will deliver and be a match-winner. The numbers scream he is already Barca’s big game MVP.
Stat Check: Yamal’s Flair vs Top 5 Defenses
Let’s dig into Yamal’s statistics against the La Liga top five sides. These sides are Real Madrid, Atletico, Athletic Club and Villareal. Yamal has 3 goals and 3 assists in 8 games (0.75 goal contributions per game) against these sides. This is slightly below his season average (0.82).
However, context matters a lot. 87% of his dribbles vs these teams came in the final third (according to FBRef). This proves he targets dangerous areas even when marked by elite defenders. The match winner against Altetico in March in the 89th minute is concrete proof that the kid has ice in veins, even against top sides. Maybe he has not scored as much as he has dribbled, but he is fearless and it’s a trade-off Barca cannot ignore.
Yamal Brings More to the Table, When Playing Against Cream
Thats right, Yamal has shown a major increase in efficiency when playing against top sides. This is because the youngster has developed a fantastic winning mentality under Flick. The German has infused so much confidence and desire to win in Yamal, that the 17-year-old is motivated to the peak whenever playing top sides, and especially against Los Blancos.
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