What the 'cavern' does not want you to see: a lot of noise because of Lamine Yamal in Liga, but...

Recently, an unfortunate fact involving Lamine Yamal came to light. After failing to score a goal in the match against Sevilla FC (1-4), the 17-year-old right winger extended a 'drought' of three months and a few days without being able to score in the local tournament.

It is worth remembering that Lamine Yamal has not scored in LaLiga EA Sports since matchday 11 against Real Madrid. In that match, he scored the third goal in what would be Barcelona's 0-4 victory over the Merengues. Since then, he has played nine league games in which he has been unable to showcase his scoring ability, although he has provided three assists.

This fact has generated some criticisms from the Real Madrid fans, who are starting to talk, ironically, about Lamine Yamal's 'scoring drought', a 'kid' of just 17 years old. Nevertheless, what if we look at ourselves first before judging the actions of the players from the opposing team?

Vinicius Jr. has also gone three months without scoring in LaLiga

It is true that much has been said about the decrease in Lamine Yamal's goal production in LaLiga, but what about Vinicius Jr.? Considered by many as the Ballon d'Or in 2024, he has not scored in LaLiga since November 9th, when he scored a hat-trick against CA Osasuna (4-0). Since then, 11 LaLiga matches have passed, and although he missed three of them due to injury, two due to suspension, and one for not being called up, it is striking that this fact has not had as much impact as '19's' at FC Barcelona, given the similarities in timing.

Should we justify the 'drought' of Vinicius Jr. because of the matches he missed due to injury? Lamine Yamal also missed three games due to an ankle injury. Should we make an exception because 'Vini Jr.' missed two other matches due to a disciplinary sanction? His expulsion was not an isolated incident, as it occurred due to a blatant headbutt to the Valencia CF goalkeeper, Stole Dimitrievski, which is hard to justify.

Why is there a double standard in judging the same reality?

It is evident that criticizing players of this caliber can be counterproductive, as they can regain their form and silence the critics at any moment. However, it is important to highlight this for one reason: why does the performance of Lamine Yamal weigh more than that of Vinicius Jr.? Especially when the right winger, despite not scoring, contributes in other aspects to the team much more than the Merengue's '7', who in the last three months in LaLiga has only managed one assist.

Going even further, in this 2024-25 season, the numbers of Lamine Yamal in all competitions are similar to those of 'Vini Jr.', who has scored 16 goals and provided 10 assists in 29 matches, compared to the 11 goals and 14 assists in 31 games of the Spanish-Moroccan forward. How long will a double standard be applied in these cases?