Lamine Yamal: yet another recital from the youth player to awaken Barcelona against Alavés

FC Barcelona narrowly defeated Alavés (1-0) in a match with a lot of physical contact and little flair where Hansi Flick's team managed to react in time in the second half to secure the three points. On an afternoon when the Vitoria team seemed to find the formula to nullify the powerful Blaugrana offense, Lamine Yamal once again took charge of illuminating the fans with his magic.

In the first half, Barça barely shot on goal once, with a long-range effort from Pedri. The highlight of the first 45 minutes was a 'Messianic' action from the player from Mataró, in which the winger dribbled past five opponents before assisting Raphinha with his classic outside-of-the-foot strike. Unfortunately, the Brazilian was not precise in the finish. 

Lamine, key in Lewandowski's winning goal

In the absence of ideas, Lamine constantly took on defenders, generating fouls and corners to try to lift the team out of its lethargy. After the break, Flick asked the team to push up several meters to suffocate Alavés's build-up, and after a quarter of an hour of Blaugrana dominance, Robert Lewandowski scored with the participation, of course, of the '19' from Barcelona. Yamal attempted a first-time shot that deflected off Tenaglia. The ball fell to the '9', and the Pole finished first-time, like a true 'killer', to fire past Owono.

A couple of minutes earlier, the Equatorial Guinean goalkeeper had denied Yamal a goal, struggling to clear a long-range shot from the winger. In the following minutes, the flow of the game did not change much, although Barça began to lower the intensity of their pressing during the final quarter of an hour. Long possessions and dribbles from the '19' were enough to rely on experience and secure a crucial victory to fully enter the fight for LaLiga.

In total, Lamine completed 22 of 34 passes (65%), 11 of 18 dribbles (61%), and won 15 of 23 individual duels (65%). Despite not contributing goals or assists, the player from Mataró remains the differential factor for Barcelona, especially on days when opponents manage to neutralize the usual verticality of Hansi Flick's team. On Thursday, the youth player hopes to have another great night against Valencia, at Mestalla, in the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey (21:00 h).