Don’t anoint him the next Messi... he’s the first Yamal

Barcelona’s 17-year-old is a prodigiously pure talent, writes Miguel Delaney, his next-level display against Inter making the easy comparison with the Argentinian almost redundant

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As Inter Milan defenders trooped off the Barcelona pitch, exhausted, they were still able to gather themselves for a common sentiment. He’s better than Lionel Messi.”

You don’t have to ask who the “he” is. One Inter player was so taken aback by Lamine Yamal that he was immediately messaging people with that exact line. They now have to figure out how to limit him for the second leg.

Yamal already looks like he can almost deliver Barcelona to the Champions League final on his own. He is a unique talent, that is symbolised in how he tries unique things. The performance in Wednesday’s remarkable 3-3 first leg was so good that it’s almost impossible not to reach for precedent, and compare to teenage talents to have also seized the world on such a stage.

There was Messi himself for the same club against Chelsea in 2005-06, and Wayne Rooney against France at Euro 2004. While such comparisons are entirely understandable because it’s an attempt to put rational context on a performance that simply inspires joyous exclamations, they’re also almost as futile as trying to stop Yamal.

Really, there’s just nothing in football like a young talent doing this. It’s the awe of what is happening and the promise of what might be next. You are witnessing something special. Of course, this is hardly an “announcement” either.

We are talking about a teenager who was one of the stars of Spain’s Euro 2024 victory, having scored an outstanding goal in the semi-final, before setting up the first in the final. People knew what was coming. The point is what is now being delivered.