Lamine Yamal has now scored 20 goals for Barcelona, but did he manage to reach that tally quicker than Lionel Messi? We’ve crunched the numbers.
Following his breakthrough last season, Yamal has taken his game to the next level under Hansi Flick this year.
The 17-year-old has already established himself as a key player in the starting XI and he seems to be getting better with each passing week.
He managed to score his 20th goal for Barcelona over the weekend as Flick’s side came from two goals behind to beat Atletico Madrid 4-2.
Along with scoring 20 goals for Barcelona, Yamal has also provided 24 assists and continues to be one of the best creative outlets in Europe.
While Messi was also dubbed a ‘wonderkid’ in his formative years, he wasn’t a first-team regular at Barcelona until he turned 18.
“Cristiano Ronaldo wasn’t doing what Lamine is doing at the same age,” Rio Ferdinand recently said on his YouTube channel.
“Ronaldo Nazario, Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, Owen, Zidane, Ronaldinho… none of them have shown the consistency and continuity this young player delivers. It’s a fact.
“Most of the greats started emerging at 18. They may have played at 17, but their real brilliance came at 18 and beyond. With Yamal, we’ve never seen anything like this before.”
Messi made his senior debut for Barcelona in 2004 aged 17, although he didn’t feature regularly until the 2005–06 campaign.
In comparison, Yamal made his Barcelona debut aged 15 and he’s quickly established himself as a regular starter.
Therefore, it probably won’t come as a surprise to learn that Yamal scored his 20th career goal at a younger age than Messi did.
However, it did take the 17-year-old more matches to score 20 goals, compared to his Argentine counterpart.
Yamal scored his 20th club goal in his 89th appearance for Barcelona, whereas Messi only took 62 games to reach the 20-goal landmark.
“There’s an incredible generation of young players with many years ahead of them,” Messi said during an Adidas press conference last year.
“If I have to choose someone because of their age and future, I completely agree that Lamine Yamal has been pointed out. He is the present and, without a doubt, has a great future.”
There can be little doubt that the Spanish teenager currently ranks among the best players in the world and his underlying stats back up that statement.
Here’s the full breakdown of how long it took Yamal to reach 20 goals for Barcelona with Messi.
How long it took Yamal to reach 20 Barcelona goals:
Games: 89
Goals: 20
Assists: 24
Goal contributions: 44
Penalties: 0
Minutes per goal: 302.8
Minutes per goal or assist: 137.6
Age: 17 years, 8 months, 3 days
How long it took Messi to reach 20 Barcelona goals:
Games: 62
Goals: 20
Assists: 5
Goal contributions: 25
Penalties: 0
Minutes per goal: 186.1
Minutes per goal or assist: 148.9
Age: 19 years, 9 months, 25 days
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