Athletic Club coach draws parallels between Barcelona prodigy and Lionel Messi | OneFootball

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La Liga will be a long and difficult hurdle for FC Barcelona this season, but they seem up to the task. Hansi Flick has now taken over the team as their new head coach and his time at the club has so far been promising. Thus far, Barcelona has managed to maintain a perfect record in La Liga.

Their most recent victory came over the ever-resilient Athletic Club, and it was no small feat. Despite having many key players injured, La Blaugrana powered through and emerged victorious with a 2-1 scoreline in their favor. After the match, however, Ernesto Valverde came clean about what went wrong.

As pointed out by SPORT, Valverde spoke about certain players in his post-match press conference and he simply could not refrain from making a big comparison between Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal and club icon Lionel Messi, a player he coached personally as well:

“With Lamine Yamal, it’s unpredictable to know which way he’ll go, it’s a bit like with Messi; they do things that you simply can’t stop.”

Undeniably, Yamal was a game-changer for Barcelona in this intense game. Breaking the deadlock through a great display of individual quality, the 17-year-old La Masia prodigy continues to break barriers and overcome the limits that he has set for himself.

With this being his first official goal of the 2024/2025 season, things can only look upwards from here. Barcelona continues to rely heavily on the young winger, and while many would argue that the club should be more cautious, there is no denying the quality that he brings on the pitch whenever he is deployed.