Lamine Yamal’s jaw-dropping trivela assist has reinvented the rules of physics
We’re fast running out of superlatives to describe Lamine Yamal – and he hasn’t even turned 18 yet.
After his breakthrough season in 2023-24 and becoming a household name with his performances for Spain’s victorious Euro 2024 side, Yamal has taken his game to another level this campaign.
Barcelona are an incredibly exciting proposition under Hansi Flick, packed full of La Masia prospects and fired by the goals of Robert Lewandowski, but it’s the 17-year-old brace face who makes them tick.
Opponents doubling or tripling up on Yamal has little effect, a ceremonial duty laced with doom such as going over the top or attempting to offer solutions to a venting spouse.
His range of trickery would embarrass Paul Daniels, as each week sees the winger unleash a new method of torturing defenders and providing goals and assists for his team.
During the Catalan derby with Espanyol, played in rainy conditions that provided a solemn reminder of the devasting Valencian floods, Yamal felt confident enough to challenge our common understanding of physics.
Nursing the ball just outside the Espanyol penalty area, the teenager glanced towards the heavens before dissecting two defenders with an impetuous flick of the boot.
Both Jofre Carreras and Carlos Romero were left standing with mouths agape as Yamal’s trivela pass drifted into the path of Dani Olmo.
If ever a pass deserved to become an assist it was this one. Thankfully, Olmo understood his task and swept the ball into the net.
It was Yamal’s 12th non-penalty goal contribution of the season, a tally that is more than Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr combined. You can see why the Madrid pair were so vexed to be overlooked for the Ballon d’Or; Yamal has it in the bag until the 2040s.
Lamine Yamal trivela assist to Olmo vs Espanyol
byu/Shiru- insoccer
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The 17-year-old recently became Barcelona’s youngest goalscorer in El Clasico history during their memorable 4-0 win at the Bernabeu, two days before he was crowned the best young player in the world at the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony.
The left-footed La Masia graduate has been endlessly compared to Messi, another wriggling phenom to have graced Barcelona’s red and blue stripes.
However, Raphinha explained in a recent interview with El Pais why he saw more similarities between Yamal and Neymar.
“The most important thing [in football] is to know what you are going to do before the ball reaches you,” the Brazilian forward outlined.
“To have the whole field mapped out. You have to take your eye off the ball to look at everything that is happening around you. People who do that are geniuses.”
When asked if Yamal was following the same path as Messi, he argued: “I see him more like Neymar.
“The dribbles, how quickly he thinks to dribble. When you think you can steal the ball from him, he does something you have never seen in your life.”
We’re already having to calm ourselves down watching Yamal; this is clearly a generational talent breaking through in the manner of Messi or Neymar and giddy with the thought we’ll be seeing him for years to come.
His trivela assist against Espanyol challenged our understanding of physics. It certainly won’t be the last time either.
By Michael Lee