Lamine Yamal guides Barça to the Champions League Round of 16

Lamine Yamal is the undisputed ‘X’ factor for FC Barcelona this season. With the ’19’ on the field, the team maintains the expectation of creating danger in the opponent’s area every time the ball falls at his feet. For the defense of the Borussia Dortmund, the young player was an inevitable dagger that, five minutes before the end, sealed the azulgrana victory at the worst moment for Barça in the match.

A poor backward pass from Gittens allowed Pedri to recover in his own half and connect with Lamine. Without wasting time, the player from Mataró drove a few meters before threading a pass into space to set up Ferran Torreswho finished crosswise in front of Kobel to silence the entire Signal Iduna Park.

Ten minutes earlier, the winger had also participated in the second culé goalwith a well-threaded pass for Koundé that the full-back took advantage of to serve a low cross to the penalty spot, right where Fermín López appeared to volley. Although Kobel managed to stop the shot from the Catalan midfielder, the ball fell to Ferran, who shot into an empty net to put Hansi Flick’s team ahead again.

Lamine survived Flick’s ‘revolution’ in the second half

In a match where Barça had serious problems managing their leads, Yamal always found the clarity to push the team forward. Not for nothing, Flick kept him on the field until the end (he left in the 89th minute), unlike his other three offensive references. Both Lewandowski and Dani Olmo and Raphinha (author of the first azulgrana goal) were substituted 20 minutes before the end, a controversial decision that ultimately paid off for the German thanks to the opportunism of the ‘Shark’ and the talent of Lamine.

UEFA awarded the young player with the MVP after a match in which he completed 24 of 28 passes (86%), with 4 shots on target, 4 successful dribbles out of 9 attempts and a couple of chances created. In the first half, he came close to scoring with a good shot from the edge of the area that Kobel managed to clear with difficulty. Additionally, he won 7 individual duels and recovered 3 balls. Wednesday’s match was his third assist of the tournament, tying with Raphinha.