Lamine Yamal: magic and imbalance to ignite Barça against Atlético

FC Barcelona drew on Tuesday against Atlético de Madrid (4-4) in another great day for Lamine Yamal. Although the azulgrana team could not take the victory in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals, the player from Mataró was again the most active in the culé offensive trident, which this time featured Ferran Torres as '9'. The winger was an unsolvable problem for Diego Simeone's team, forming a very effective tandem with Jules Koundé that led to Barça's first goal in the 19th minute.

Lamine had already generated a yellow card for Javi Galán three minutes earlier and was the architect of a play in which one of his through passes allowed Koundé to set up Pedri González at the penalty spot. The Canary Islander finished perfectly, with one touch, to start the comeback of a Barça that overcame a 2-goal deficit in just 22 minutes. In the 41st minute, a nutmeg by Yamal in a one-on-one against Galán generated the corner that ended in the 3-2 score, scored by Iñigo Martínez.

Later, in stoppage time, the young player was very close to emulating his stunning goal in the 'semis' of the Euro against France, with a powerful left-footed shot that Musso struggled to clear. The winger had once again easily surpassed the '21' of Atlético, getting the better of him in the individual duel to unleash a shot that aimed for the corner. Already in the second half, the player from Rocafonda continued to generate danger, although he sought to enter more through the middle after a brief chat with Raphinha.

Lamine Yamal's dribbles drove Atlético's defense crazy

The 'rojiblancos' started the second half better and, just in the 57th minute, a breakthrough by Lamine on the left reactivated the culé attack. The azulgrana academy player claimed a penalty, but both the referee Hernández Hernández and VAR considered that the winger fell on his own while trying to surpass the marking of Samuel Lino and Julián Álvarez, who had also dropped back to help in defense. 17 minutes later, the Barça 'crack' had his revenge, this time getting past Reinildo on his side before setting up Robert Lewandowski.

The Pole only had to push the ball into an empty net to make it 4-2 in the 74th minute, just six minutes after coming on for Ferran. In total, Yamal completed 31 of 44 passes (70%) and 7 dribbles in 11 attempts (64%). No player had as much imbalance with the ball throughout the match. Additionally, he recovered 3 balls and, in individual duels, won 11 of 22, with three fouls generated and one yellow card provoked.