Lamine Yamal turns off the RAMS Park boiler: “He is the best player in the world”

The RAMS Park boiler makes no distinctions. "Today has merit because your ears are ringing when you are on the field. What we have done today has a lot of merit. We are showing the quality we have," revealed Eric García. Any rival is an enemy, no matter how much his name is Lamine Yamal and he is destined to touch the ceiling of world football. Barcelona's number 10 confronted Mario Lemina for an unsanctioned foul at the start of the duel and the Galatasaray fans did not forgive: loud whistle, one more, this time with the young Barça player as the recipient. It seemed that the hostile climate dampened Lamine's talent. Or, at least, it left him paralyzed. In the first time in Istanbul little was known about him.

But we already know how Lamine handles the rivalry. “I live well with that, I wouldn't like them to applaud me in every field, I like it, that's football,” he confessed in an interview during the last World Cup. After passing through the locker room, with the tie nailed on the scoreboard after a first act in which Barça surely suffered its worst minutes of the season, the winger appeared: two assists in three minutes for Fermín and Gordon to score 1-2 and 1-3, respectively. It is the eighth time in his career that he has scored two goals in a game, half of them this season. "When he has it, I look for the unmarking. I know he looks for me and sees me. He is the best player in the world," Fermín said. Yamal finished as the player who created the most chances in the match, six, double that of any of his teammates. "He didn't score today, but he did give that last pass in two goals. He is an incredible player and very important for us," said Hansi Flick after the win against Galatasaray (1-4).

Before the duel began, Flick had explained the importance of managing his players' legs, essential given Barcelona's demanding schedule in October: they travel to Paris in the Champions League on the 20th and on the 26th they host Madrid at the Camp Nou. “We also know that we need to manage the minutes of player participation and the physical loads, especially because the next game will be on Saturday or Sunday, and that is why we must handle the matter judiciously,” said the German coach. Lamine, however, does not rest: he played all 96 minutes in Istanbul. “For me and for the players, competing in the Champions League is something of utmost importance,” Flick concluded.

The one who did leave first was Pedri, another of Barcelona's great protagonists against Galatasaray. "My stomach hurt and I felt a little sick. Better to ask for change and get another soda," said the Canary Islander. “In the first part”; He continued, "we were too quick to make the last pass many times. When they take the lead in this atmosphere, it is complicated, but I am left with the team's reaction. The second half was spectacular." Flick added: "In the first half we also played well. They had a chance and scored. We managed to come back and that was very important."

Barcelona has nine goals in the league phase of the Champions League, which reaches 43 if we add the 34 they have scored in the League. "I think there is always speculation, but it is clear that we can score a lot of goals. We have a lot of quality people who also come in from the bench. The squad is very large and very good. You can see it," Pedri insisted. Along the same lines, Flick concluded: "We are very happy with the result. In the Champions League, when we played well, in some situations we did not make good decisions in the final third. We have to improve that. In this stadium, with this atmosphere, it was not easy, but I am very happy."