Lamine Yamal becomes the youngest Barcelona player to compete in La Liga
At 15 years, 9 months, and 16 days old, Lamine Yamal made his official La Liga debut for Barcelona and has become the youngest player to feature in the Spanish League in this century.
Young forward Lamine Yamal made history on Saturday night when he came on to replace Pablo Gavi and become the youngest player to appear in La Liga for Barcelona. His debut for the club arrived in a 4-0 triumph over Real Betis at the Camp Nou where the Seville-based outfit had to play the majority of the contest with 10 men.
Yamal, who was included in the squad for the first time in the clash with Atletico Madrid and has been featuring regularly in the first-team training sessions, came on in the 81st minute and replaced fellow La Masia graduate Pablo Gavi.
While he is the youngest Barcelona player to take part in La Liga and in fact, the youngest debutant in the competition in the 21st century, he is reportedly the second-youngest player in Catalan club history, trailing only Albert Almasque in 1902, who competed in the Macaya Cup at the age of 13 years, 11 months, and six days.
Yamal was 15 years, 9 months, and 16 days old when he came on for Barcelona and was accompanied by a huge roar from the Catalan supporters at the Camp Nou.
“He’s got innate talent in the final third which is difficult to find,” said coach Xavi Hernandez who brought Barca’s youngest debutante ever.
“He doesn’t seem like he’s 15 years old, he’s more mature than his years. I’ve seen him train and he’s shown it,” he added.
“He played 10 minutes, but did well, he can mark an era at the club.”
In his short 10-minute cameo for the team, Yamal stood out and had a shot on target that required an excellent save from the opposition keeper. He also fed two delightful balls into the box, the first of which could’ve been converted into a goal had the returning Ousmane Dembele utilised the chance better.
Victory over Real Betis allowed Barcelona to reinstate their 11-point advantage at the top of La Liga after Real Madrid had won 4-2 earlier against Almeria. The match also proved to be a strong statement of intent from the Catalan giants who had lost their previous encounter with Rayo Vallecano away from home and needed a major response.
Speaking about Yamal being subjected to comparison with Lionel Messi and Ansu Fati, who also made their debuts at young ages for the club, Xavi told Movistar, “I told him to try things and he did.”
“At 15 years old, just imagine it. He’s a special player, he could score, assist, he had confidence. When you see it in training you realise he could be big,” he added.
Brazilian winger Raphinha who created the pass for Andreas Christensen’s opening goal also heaped plenty of praise on the up and coming talent from La Masia.
“We were talking about this on the bench, when I was 15 I think I was playing for my neighbourhood team,” Barca winger Raphinha told Movistar.
“And seeing him come on in this stadium, with all these people, is incredible.”
“It would have been better if he scored, but he will score at a better moment and he will be very important for the club,” he added.
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