Lamine Yamal has kick-started his run for the 2025 Ballon d’Or with one of the assists of the season in Sunday’s La Liga clash between Barcelona and Espanyol.
The 17-year-old, who became the youngest ever winner of the Kopa Trophy on Monday night after a breakthrough campaign for club and country, has picked up where he left off last season, scoring seven goals and setting up eight more in 15 appearances.
Yamal has been one of Barcelona’s standout performers of late, with last weekend’s display against Real Madrid just one of many superb individual displays.
Ond on Sunday afternoon, he continued to shine with another superb first-half performance.
In the 12th minute, Yamal found space on the right wing before delivering a perfectly-executed ‘outside-of-the-boot’ pass to Dani Olmo, who beat Inaki Pena at his near post to make it 1-0.
How good was that? Here’s how fans on social media reacted to Yamal’s sublime assist.
One said: “Yamal is actually different class,” while another commented: “Yamal is 17, he isn’t supposed to be this amazing yet “
A third wrote: “Enjoy every second of Lamine Yamal’s career, we are witnessing a generational talent. He is the most talented player in Europe right now. Times flies so enjoy it, it feels like it was yesterday when we were watching Ronaldo, Messi and Neymar come up.”
A fourth said: “Lamine Yamal’s playmaking skillset is a joke. That assist, man. My God!!! He’s mastered the in-swinging cross, the deceptive little through ball AND the trivela. I’m in awe,” and a fifth added: “Just seen Yamal’s assist… the kid is a joke ffs. Best player in the world at 17.”
So can he win the Ballon d’Or next year? Barcelona teammate Pau Cubarsí certainly thinks so.
“Now everyone sees what he is, but I’ve known him for years and I know what he’s like,” Cubarsí told RAC 1. “I think he has the ability to win it [Ballon d’Or].”
When asked if he thinks that Yamal has a ceiling, Cubarsí added: “I don’t think so. As he is right now, he’s at a spectacular level and to have him at that level in our team helps us a lot. He is full of confidence and that makes us happy.”
