Lamine Yamal returned to Camp Nou to play the Joan Gamper Cup friendly against AS Monaco. That was the first match he played for Barca since winning EURO 2024. A few days later, a big incident happened to the 17-year-old striker. His father was stabbed by a group of strangers and had to be hospitalized in a very serious condition.
Thanks to timely emergency treatment, Yamal's father recovered. He was discharged from the hospital and returned home just one day before Barcelona's opening match in La Liga took place. That day, Blaugrana beat Valencia away from home thanks to Robert Lewandowski's double. That was the match where Lamine Yamal started. He was the one who assisted Lewy to set the score 2-1, thereby creating a comeback.
Bravery is something that Yamal's teammates talked about when he was still able to maintain a calm state of mind after his father's incident. The 17-year-old striker came on the field, played well and left his mark. Before that, right in the match against Monaco at Camp Nou, many Cules composed songs to specifically support this talented young star. This time, in Mestalla, those melodies resounded.
From not being considered a main factor, Yamal is now an indispensable player for both Barca and La Roja. At Camp Nou, this striker was given shirt number 19, similar to the EURO 2024 campaign. Previously when he first joined the team, legendary Lionel Messi also wore this shirt number. This could be a step forward, the Blaugrana number 10 shirt will belong to Yamal. However, the more he is compared to Messi, the more pressure Yamal may face. Previously, no Barca player compared to El Pulga could succeed, the closest being Ansu Fati .
After EURO 2024, Barcelona gave Lamine Yamal 2 weeks of rest before entering the new campaign. In the current Barca squad, Yamal's right wing position is sacrosanct. If Raphinha wants to play, he will have to compete. Everything seems to be ready for Yamal to have his first season playing as the Blaugrana's top star and no longer playing the role of a potential young player.
Lamine Yamal's current contract with Barcelona has a break clause of up to 1 billion Euros. Before EURO 2024 , the contract between this star and Barca was to be reviewed by 2025. However, with the championship in Germany, that time was pushed forward 1 year so that the Camp Nou team could retain talent in a sustainable way.
From Barca and Yamal, everything is going very well, even brighter than when Fati began to emerge as the person who could replace Messi. This is a very strong Real Madrid season with the addition of Kylian Mbappe, Barca needs Lamine Yamal to shine even more to create a counterweight.
