FC Barcelona Prodigy Lamine Yamal Shatters Lionel Messi’s All-Time Record

FC Barcelona star Lamine Yamal broke a long-standing record, previously held by another La Masia alumni and Barcelona great, Lionel Messi, while contributing to the defeat of Deportivo Alaves in La Liga on Sunday. 

The teenage star was once again a vital part of Flick’s strategy during the somewhat unusual afternoon match for the Blaugrana side, closely watched by the 42,000 anxious Culers.

With their local rivals, RCD Espanyol, doing Barca a great favour by beating eternal adversaries Real Madrid by a 1-0 scoreline on Sunday, 2nd February the pressure was on Hansi Flick’s team to deliver a stunning performance and get one step closer in the La Liga title race after experiencing many ups and downs at the end of the 2024 season. 

In the match against Deportivo Alaves, Messi was once again relevant as the final whistle blew. Yamal's role in Robert Lewandowski’s goal around the 61st minute made the difference and cut Madrid’s advantage to four points. 

Lamine successfully completed 11 out of 21 dribbles attempted in the 22nd La Liga match, breaking the all-time record set by former Barca great Lionel Messi, who completed 10 out of 20 attempts back in 2007.

With these statistics, the Barca prodigy also extended his lead over his closest competitors as the best dribbler in La Liga this season. He currently has 73 dribbles to his name, outpacing Sevilla’s Dodi Lukebakio, who has 64, and far surpassing Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, who has 46, as highlighted by the Spanish nationwide daily Mundo Deportivo.