Comparing Lamine Yamal’s Champions League record with Lionel Messi’s after 25 matches
Lamine Yamal has now made 25 appearances in the Champions League for Barcelona, but how does his record compare with Lionel Messi’s after the same number of games?
Since making his debut for Barcelona in 2023, Yamal has taken the world by storm and has already broken several records.
Having established himself as a key player for Barcelona at such a young age, it’s no wonder that he’s been compared to Messi.
His 25th Champions League appearance came last night against Olympiacos and he marked the occasion with a goal and an assist in Barcelona’s 6-1 hammering.
That now means that the teenager has scored six goals in the competition and has provided seven assists.
He’s currently averaging a goal contribution every 141.8 minutes in Europe, which is some record, especially considering his age.
In comparison, Messi made his 25th appearance in the Champions League – a competition where you are able to calculate betting odds – at the age of 21 in November 2008.
During his first 25 matches in the competition, he scored 12 goals and assisted four, averaging a goal contribution every 110.3 minutes.
Therefore, Messi did boast a superior record to Yamal in Europe after 25 matches, but there’s still plenty of time for Yamal to close the gap.
At the age of 18, Messi hadn’t yet established himself as a key player for Barcelona, like Yamal has managed to do in such a short space of time.
Messi himself has been keeping close tabs on Yamal’s career and unsurprisingly rates him as one of the top talents in world football.
“There’s a very good generation of young footballers who have many years ahead of them,” Messi said at an Adidas event last year.
“If I have to choose someone, because of the age and because of the future that he has, I’ve heard that they have chosen Lamine Yamal and without doubt [it’s him] for me, too.
“I agree it depends on him and many things because that’s how soccer is, but he’s the present and without a doubt has a huge future.”
Here’s the full breakdown of how their records in Europe compare after 25 matches.
Lamine Yamal Champions League record
Games: 25
Goals: 6
Assists: 7 ⭐
Goal contributions: 13
Penalties: 1
Minutes per goal: 307.8
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 369.4
Minutes per goal or assist: 142.1
Lionel Messi Champions League record
Games: 25
Goals: 12 ⭐
Assists: 4
Goal contributions: 16 ⭐
Penalties: 1
Minutes per goal: 147.1 ⭐
Minutes per non-penalty goal: 160.5 ⭐
Minutes per goal or assist: 110.3 ⭐
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