In the beginning it was inevitable. Then it gradually started to hang in the air, striking when absent, tired when present. But in the end, comparisons between Lamine Yamal and Lionel Messi start to fade into the background. As soon as it became clear that the teenage number 19, the old song of Messi in Barcelona and probably would inherit his last song while in the Blaugrana he was at a superior level of talent to the majority of his teammates, it was inevitable. At least for the most part.
“I compare myself with no one, and much less Messi, who is the largest in history. I leave that stuff to the press,” Lamine Yamal remarked after he was asked about the Argentinian who called him one of the best in the world. So here it goes. Finding similarities between the early and wonderful talent and Messi is one of the more inactive attempts to find a comparison. Both are left-feet, both came through in La Masia, both have little respect for hierarchy. In a world where clicks the money machine flows, it becomes difficult to escape from the Messi comparison.
However, if Lamine Yamal is comparable to one of Barcelona's large number 10s, it is the predecessor of Messi. The brain of every football fan in the early 2000s Eric Cantona was brought up, not for his play career, but for how he spoke about it during Nike advertisements. “If you are a child, you are not afraid to dare, to try,” says Cantona, Gruff, Philosophical, the embodiment of a man with charisma, while Goofy-Tanden child takes action. “You do it, just because you like it,” Cantona follows … and Ronaldinho starts to dance.
When Ronaldinho arrived to the sunny Barcelona in 2003, they became suppressed and faltered from years of decadence in the post Johan Cruyff era Klinkt known? There was clear quality there, but it was a team that missed leadership, a team that struggled for both identity and trophies, and that in an era in which Deportivo La Coruna and Valencia Real Madrid challenged for titles. Ronaldinho arrived as the second prize of David Beckham, the first broken promise of a younger, slimmer and less gravel -like Joan Laporta.
What Barcelona gave was his smile. Perhaps the most infectious in the history of football. Something they couldn't put on a price later. During his debut, on a hot August evening in Barcelona, Ronaldinho spent various Sevilla defenders and hit the ball around fifteen minutes after midnight in the upper corner of all 35-yards. A goal that belonged in a fever dream.
As the Brazilian did for him, Lamine Yamal Barcelona has again given a imagination. Beyond the absurd corner passes, the films of brilliant conception and adrenaline from watching defenders grabbing helpless for sturdy soil with their feet, the 17-year-old has opened the box with possibilities. Because while Messi looked like a timid on the camera and a determination with the ball at his feet, Lamine Yamal radiates personality.
If Messi would dominate a game with any source, he decided to call, first to dribble, then complete, then pass, Lamine Yamal, such as Ronaldinho, imposes herself as a result of what he can do. With him on the field, Barcelona knows that there is a moment for them, that a turning point is around the corner.
There are more mechanical aspects of what he does. When Ferran Torres starts running, he knows that Lamine Yamal can find him in line. When Raphinha starts to limit on the heels of a right back, it is because Lamine Yamal has the opportunity to bend the ball when the corner in front of the pass does not exist. When Barcelona stifles, they know that Lamine Yamal can find a way to keep the pressure at a distance and bring the ball back to a teammate with space to breathe.
Just like Ronaldinho, deceptively powerful, could break its way through a backline or lift the ball over it. Samuel Eto'o knew that he had more room and a service line that he could trust. Some of the great Ronaldinho images are goals. The single Samba against Chelsea, the shredding of the Santiago Bernabeu. But then there were the no-look, the Sombreros, which hit the ball over several defenders, the Croqueta, or Flip-Flap while the fame found in English.
Remove your mental scrapbook and you notice that the moments of Lamine Yamal are just as good about the way he does things as what he does. The brace-face grin to the Bernabeu. His absurd 50-yard assist for Raphinha against Villarreal with the outside of the boot. Who run against Alaves, shoot in and out of six players. Lamine Yamal had a mixed match against Real Madrid in the final of Copa del Rey, but when Barcelona needed a moment, he slid past Fran Garcia twice for star -invoicing. Six minutes after the defeat in the final, he lured Thibaut Courtois from his line with a pass from within his own half that bounced behind Antonio Rudiger, but in the path of Torres.
Lamine Yamal is statistically the least productive of Barcelona's front three, his 38 target contributions five behind Robert Lewandowski and 15 behind Raphinha's Tally. There is little doubt about what is the most important thing about the trio. In just 17 years old, whether it works or not, Lamine Yamal is liquid trust for an entire institution, a way to winning games and a door of possibilities. He is not afraid to dare to try. “I left a long time ago in a Parkmataro.” Let's hope he never grows up.