Comparing Barcelona’s record with and without Lamine Yamal since his La Liga debut

Ben Stewart • 02 Dec 2024

Lamine Yamal made his La Liga debut for Barcelona back in April 2023 and since that point, he’s established himself as one of the best players in the world.

Amazingly, the 17-year-old has already made 51 La Liga appearances as he’s become one of the first names on the teamsheet.

In 51 league matches, the youngster has scored 10 goals and has provided 14 assists. Averaging a goal contribution every 134.5 minutes, it’s incredibly rare that a player of his age maintains such a consistent standard.

However, it’s not just the goals and assists that make Yamal special. Along with being one of the best chance creators in Spain, he’s also an elite dribbler and an excellent technician.

Hansi Flick’s side started the 2024-25 season in emphatic form, but their recent struggles have coincided with Yamal being out injured.

The youngster made his return to action over the weekend, coming on as a second-half substitute to replace Pablo Torre in Barcelona’s 2-1 loss against Las Palmas.

Staggeringly, in La Liga this season, Barcelona have failed to win any of the four matches where Yamal hasn’t started.

Without the 17-year-old in the starting XI, Hansi Flick’s side lost against Osasuna, Real Sociedad, and Las Palmas, while they could only draw against Celta Vigo.

“We all know how talented he (Yamal) is and how his quality on the pitch can impact a game,” Flick told reporters when discussing Barcelona’s poor form without Yamal.

“Lamine has a quality that allows you to have more control of possession but also makes the opponent give us more space.”

To further illustrate Yamal’s importance to Barcelona, we’ve compared their record in La Liga with and without their starboy, since he made his league debut against Real Betis in April 2023.

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When Yamal features for Barcelona, the club boasts a win percentage of 72.5% and they also average 2.31 points per game. Over a full season, that would be the equivalent of 88 points.

However, Barcelona’s results dramatically drop off when the 17-year-old has been injured or rested.

During the league games where Yamal hasn’t featured, Barcelona’s win percentage drops to just 44.4% and they only average 1.44 points per game. Over a full season that’s the equivalent of just 55 points.

This trend will no doubt cause concern for Flick who will need to find a way to consistently pick up points when Yamal isn’t available at his disposal.

Here is the full breakdown of Barcelona’s La Liga record with and without Yamal since the youngster made his league debut for the club: