FC Barcelona continued their winning run at the start of this new La Liga campaign as they defeated Athletic Club in their second game of the season, at the Spotify Camp Nou. [Raphinha and Fermin Lopez scored the goals to give their side a 2-0 win](https://barcanewsnetwork.com/pedri-9-5-raphinha-9-0-fc-barcelona-2-0-athletic-club-player-ratings/), while Rodri Hernandez also made his debut in the Blaugrana shirt in this game.
Lamine Yamal had a good game, as he created several attacking moves and also tested the Athletic Club goalkeeper Unai Simon on a number of occasions. However, he was unable to get on the scoresheet, and faced some criticism for that.
Meanwhile, there were also some strong voices defending him. As [SPORT](https://www.sport.es/es/noticias/athletic-club/terzic-sale-defensa-lamine-yamal-133726267) has reported, one such voice was that of the Athletic Club manager Edin Terzic. The German coach was asked about the young winger in his post-match press conference, and he reminded everyone that Yamal is still a teenager and expectations and criticism around him should not be as harsh as they are, especially as he is coming off his holidays:
**“Let’s not forget that, first and foremost, we are talking about human beings. Then, in this case, we are talking about a very young player and someone who has experienced incredible moments over the past few weeks.”**
**“That’s why, after that, he takes a step back, has three weeks of rest, and we expect him to be here ready to score five goals every week… He can do that from tomorrow, and that’s the most important thing for me.”**
It is always heartening to see an opposition coach defend a player, but Edin Terzic has raised an important point that usually goes forgotten in professional football, i.e., the youth of the players and the expectations surrounding them. So far, Lamine Yamal has not let this affect his performances on the pitch, and hopefully, he will continue to shine for Barcelona and Spain as he has already done in his already bright career.