Lamine Yamal is NOT the best player in the world, claims Inter star as French international names two players better than the Barcelona wonderkid
- Lamine Yamal starred in Barcelona's 3-3 Champions League draw with Inter
- He has earned widespread praise with many tipping him as the best in the world
- LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! Ian Ladyman reveals his pick for best goalkeeper this season - and it's NOT Alisson Becker
Lamine Yamal may have captured all the headlines on Wednesday night in Barcelona's breakneck 3-3 draw with Inter Milan, but one Nerazzurri star is claiming that he's not quite as good as people are saying.
Yamal scored one of the goals of the season to start the Blaugrana's comeback, having slid to a 2-0 deficit within little more than 20 minutes of their Champions League semi-final first leg.
He then came close to a second almost as spectacular, and continued to plague the Inter defence throughout the match, which ultimately ended in a tie after goals from Ferran Torres and Denzel Dumfries, and an unfortunate Yann Sommer own goal.
But all the talk after the game has been consumed by the frightening talent that is Yamal, who at 17 years old has already won the Euros, and is still on course for a starring role in a brilliant treble of successes for Barca.
Yet, for one Inter player, Yamal has not quite done enough to justify the status of world No 1.
'No, he's not,' said Marcus Thuram after being asked by Canal Plus if Yamal's recent performances make him the world's finest footballer.
Lamine Yamal (centre) has earned plenty of praise for his stunning performance against Inter Milan
The teenager was on the scoresheet and tormented Federico Dimarco throughout the game
Marcus Thuram (third left) claimed Kylian Mbappe (third right) and Ousmane Dembele (first left) are still ahead of Yamal in the pecking order
'The best player in the world is French, and the second is too. They are Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe. After the two of them comes Lamine Yamal.'
Wednesday's star performance was his 100th game for the Catalan giants at just 17 years and eight months, an astounding feat for one so young.
Any youngster who erupts out the blocks like Yamal has from Barcelona, naturally draws comparison to the greatest of all greats in Lionel Messi, and the teenager has seemingly tried to distance himself from those links.
But after his century of Blaugrana appearances, those connections are impossible to ignore, especially as he is already three years ahead of Messi in that regard.
Messi played his 100th match back in 2010 under Pep Guardiola, and by that time he had already scored a stunning 41 goals and provided 14 assists.
Yamal, meanwhile has managed to rack up 22 goals and 33 assists, putting him level on contributions with the great Messi's tally.
Similarly, Yamal has won three trophies with Barca to Messi's four, and that's not counting international honours; the former of course earned a Euros crown in 2024, while the latter won the Olympic Games gold medal in 2008.
Messi, it's worth pointing out, had also won the first of his eight Ballon d'Or awards before his 100th game, which of course Yamal has not quite managed yet, though if his performances continue in a similar vein, that first might not be too far away.
