Lamine Yamal’s Barcelona hopeful of Champions League revival
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Lamine Yamal is Barcelona's brightest young star.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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BARCELONA – Approaching a decade since Barcelona last won the Champions League, the Catalan giants face AS Monaco in this season’s European opener on Sept 19 aiming to make a statement.
The club are desperate to battle their way back among the continent’s elite after years in the wilderness and, after a strong start under new coach Hansi Flick, their hopes are rising.
Flick’s Barcelona have five wins from five in La Liga, with Spain’s teenage Euro 2024 star Lamine Yamal playing a decisive role in their attack.
The winger has developed at an alarming rate since making his Barcelona debut aged just 15 in April 2023. Now 17, Yamal struck twice as Barcelona thrashed Girona 4-1 in the league on Sept 15.
“Lamine is a difference-maker... for me, he is already one of the best players in the world at 17 years of age,” said Girona coach Michel Sanchez in admiration.
“It is difficult to imagine that after (Lionel) Messi, another one would come along. But I hope that Lamine keeps improving because he’s a player that can reach that level.”
Even though comparisons to Barcelona’s best-ever player – eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi – pile pressure on Yamal, the youngster keeps delivering.
He already has three goals and four assists from five games this season, well on the way of matching his tally of 16 goal contributions last term.
Barcelona are still stricken by economic difficulties, with their only major summer signing being Dani Olmo from RB Leipzig, and even then they struggled for a few weeks to register him. But in La Masia graduate Yamal, they have a bona fide home-grown star.
The team will welcome Bayern Munich to their temporary Barcelona Olympic Stadium home and travel to last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund in the pick of their group-stage fixtures.
First up, though, they are away to Monaco, who stunned Barca 3-0 in pre-season. That is long forgotten now, with the Catalan side raising their game several levels in the weeks since and showing the sort of swagger that helped them win La Liga in 2023.
“I think you can see the confidence we have and, when we have the ball, we have the quality to play and to create chances,” said Flick, after the destruction of Girona.
The game brought one piece of bad news as Olmo suffered a hamstring injury which rules him out for around a month.
Flick may be forced to move winger Raphinha back into a central role against Monaco, the position in which he started the season, before Olmo was registered.
Despite the injury, with veteran striker Robert Lewandowski in strong form and Yamal’s star continuing to rise, Barcelona are ready to show they have recovered their status as European powerhouses. AFP
