Recently, in the world of football in general and Barcelona in particular, the phrase “the youngest player to…” is often followed by the name of Lamine Yamal. He made his debut with the Blaugrana side in April 2023, at just 15 years, 9 months, and 16 days old, during a match against Real Betis when Xavi Hernández was at the helm. To cite a few examples: he is the youngest debutant and scorer for the Spanish national team; the youngest to play, assist, and score in a Euro; the youngest to be a starter and provide an assist in a Champions League match, as well as the youngest to compete in a knockout stage of the premier continental competition; the youngest starter and assister in LaLiga; the youngest to play in a Clásico and, since October 26, also the youngest to score in the most high-profile match in Spanish football. While his performance at the Santiago Bernabéu may not have been his most brilliant, he did score the goal that extinguished Real Madrid’s hopes of a comeback.
Now, Lamine finds himself playing in his first Catalan derby against Espanyol, just like a handful of other first-team players, such as Iñigo Martínez (who faced him while playing for Real Sociedad and Athletic Club), Dani Olmo, and Cubarsí. The latter has played in lower categories at ages 12 and 13 in a team that also featured Lamine and Marc Bernal, who started as one of Hansi Flick’s surprises until he suffered a serious knee injury that will keep him sidelined for the entire season. All of them were born in 2007, shared a childhood team, and have now debuted with the first team as teenagers. The Barcelona winger made his mark in this local rivalry with an impressive outside assist for Dani Olmo to score.
Barcelona’s coach values Lamine not for his age, but for everything he contributes on the field. He uses age only to indicate the potential for improvement and to provide advice on how to evolve into a complete footballer.
Lamine is the fifth player in the squad with the most minutes, totaling 1,130 (excluding the derby), very close to Lewandowski’s 1,135, and behind Iñigo Martínez’s 1,146, Raphinha’s 1,163, and Koundé’s 1,193 across all competitions. Behind him are two other youngsters, Cubarsí with 1,078 minutes and Balde with 996. The young winger has been a starter in eleven of the twelve matchdays (only resting against Osasuna, the day of extreme rotations, which marked Barça’s only defeat in the league), and in all but two matches (Getafe 1-0; and Alavés 0-3) he either scored at least one goal or provided at least one assist. In total, he has netted five goals and registered seven assists, more than anyone else in LaLiga, tied with his teammate Raphinha.
Yamal is entering a new dimension. He is no longer just the lad who impresses; he now enjoys star treatment, both on the pitch and commercially, having won the Kopa Trophy for Best Player Under 21, succeeding Bellingham; and being the “youngest” to finish among the top ten in the history of the Ballon d’Or voting. He finished eighth, the highest position for a Barcelona player.
In the match against Espanyol, he debuted the exclusive boots made by his sponsoring brand. This is his first derby with the “big boys”—a match he might have played on the opposite side since just weeks before leaving for Barcelona in February 2014, when he had not yet turned seven and was playing for the local team La Torreta, where he started in La Roca del Vallès, he had already trialed to be a “perico” but ultimately ended up at La Masia, becoming “the youngest player to…”
