Hansi Flick has described Lamine Yamal as “the best player in the world” after the Barcelona teenager scored a spectacular goal in Saturday’s 5-2 victory over Real Betis.
Yamal gave Barcelona the lead with a curling long-range effort into the top corner, scoring his 13th goal for club and country this season. The result extended the Liga champions’ advantage at the top of the table.
The 19-year-old had also produced a remarkable assist for Anthony Gordon in Barcelona’s 4-1 win against Galatasaray in the UEFA Champions League earlier this week.
Yamal is now 10 days away from potentially becoming the youngest men’s player to win the Ballon d’Or. He is expected to challenge Harry Kane for the award.
“When you see the first goal he scored, it’s incredible; right now he is the best player in the world,” Barcelona manager Flick said.
“I am very happy with his performance, and that is what I want to say. Of course, he has pressure; he is 19 years old and has played every game, but he is 100% focused and committed, and he is very good. His performance has been incredible, and his attitude is how great players are.”
Flick substituted Yamal during the match but said the decision was made with the player’s performance in mind.
“With this result, we had to change him; it was clear, and I told him that I was very proud because he had played a fantastic game,” he added.
Barcelona have now won 11 consecutive matches and retain a 100% record across all competitions this season. Rodri, Gabriel Jesus, Eric Garcia and Dani Olmo were also on the scoresheet against Real Betis.
However, Eric Garcia is among several Barcelona players whose fitness will need to be assessed before Tuesday’s Champions League meeting with Paris Saint-Germain.
Flick also provided updates on Garcia, Gerard Martin and Jules Kounde after the game.
“For the moment, the most important thing is to recover,” he said. “Recovery is very important, and seeing how we manage the minutes on Tuesday.
“We’ll see, we’ll look for 11 players. We don’t know what will happen with Eric. Kounde has small problems, Gerard too. We’ll have to see.
“We have two more days, and we’ll see what happens on Tuesday. We have to wait for the medical results.”
Paris Saint-Germain and Barcelona occupy the top two positions in the Champions League table after two matches, setting up a major contest at Parc des Princes.
The defending European champions have scored 10 goals after wins over Slovan Bratislava and Manchester City. Barcelona have scored nine in victories against Feyenoord and Galatasaray.