The Nations League final wasn’t Lamine Yamal’s finest hour considering the ridiculous standards that he’d set himself over the course of the 2024/25 season.
However, it’s not the time or the place to be overly critical of this soon to be 18-year-old who is redefining the footballing paradigm and, what’s more, doing it with ease.
It’s scarcely believable that in the space of a couple of seasons Lamine has risen to become the go-to guy for Barcelona and a major factor is Spain’s recent successes.
Though he was mainly kept under wraps by Portugal’s Nuno Mendes on Sunday night, it was clear that he had been tasked with playing a more withdrawn role in any event, which was always going to negate his influence going forward against a full-back that could match him stride for stride.
Portugal v Spain - UEFA Nations League 2025 Final Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images
In that context there was a little more maturity that needed to be applied in the sense that Lamine had to be able to maintain his discipline throughout rather than wanting to beat his man at every given opportunity - and perhaps hand the advantage to Portugal in the process.
Cristiano Ronaldo was on the pitch to see who this whippersnapper ready to take his and Lionel Messi’s mantle was, and Portugal’s captain, who left the pitch injured late on, will have wondered what all of the fuss was about.
However, it’s also worth pondering on the influence both Ronaldo and Messi had on their respective teams at 17 years of age, and the reality is that neither were anywhere close to where Lamine already is.
For example, the latter has already won the European Championship for Spain and played more than 100 times for Barcelona. In 24/25 alone, Lamine scored 18 goals and provided 25 assists.
Portugal v Spain - UEFA Nations League 2025 Final Photo by Daniela Porcelli/Sports Press Photo/Getty Images
At 17, Ronaldo had played 19 games, assisted four times and scored five. Messi had made nine appearances, scored once and hadn’t yet assisted. Both also had elders in their teams who set the tempo, whilst Lamine also effortlessly helps to control the ebb and flow of Barcelona’s play.
La Liga title - tick. Copa del Rey title - tick. Conducting a Barcelona side along with the likes of Pedri to come within a whisker of getting to the Champions League final, and now a Nations League runner-up.
Frankly, it’s astonishing what this young boy is already capable of producing on a football pitch.
Many football watchers have drooled over the outrageous moments of skill but it’s also that maturity with which he plays and his first-class decision making that should be acknowledged, and which has already marked him out for greatness.
Champions League winners Paris Saint-Germain reportedly offered €250m recently for Lamine but were turned down flat by Joan Laporta. The player has gone on to sign a new deal with Barca until 2031 of course, and that could be the best piece of recent business the club will do.
There is absolutely no doubt that he will define a new era at the club unless any hatchet men take umbrage at being embarrassed by the twinkle-toed assassin and seek their revenge in the only way they know how.
Portugal v Spain - UEFA Nations League 2025 Final Photo by Edith Geuppert - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images
With any luck, however, officials will be mindful of the same and afford Lamine a little more protection when needed.
As he’s said in interviews many times to date, he will just concentrate on enjoying his football and let everything else take care of itself. If titles and awards arrive as a result, so be it.
Ballon d’Or talk has been rife of course, though PSG’s vintage season might well tip the balance their way, particularly as they now have Nations League winners in their squad too - and the Club World Cup to come.
If Lamine were to become the youngest winner of the award, however - (beating Ronaldo Nazario in 1997 at 21 years and 96 days) - there are unlikely to be too many complaints.