Lamine Yamal vs Lionel Messi: Stats comparison after first 99 Barcelona matches

Yamal has already become one of the best stars at the age of 17.

As he has now completed over 100 games for Barcelona, statistics reveal how close Lamine Yamal is to Lionel Messi, despite the fact that he has already established himself as one of the world’s top attacking forces.

The young player is now playing at a high level, and on Wednesday night, Yamal scored a goal in their 3-3 draw with Inter Milan as he reached his 100 appearances for the club in all competitions at the age of 17.

The 17-year-old, who led Spain to win the European Championship last summer, has so far scored 15 goals and provided over 20 assists in 51 games this season.

Having already won the Copa del Rey 2024-25, he is leading the Catalan giants, along with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha, to a possible double this season.

Any teenager from Barcelona who bursts out of the blocks as Yamal has is bound to be compared to Messi, the best of all time, and the 17-year-old has apparently made an effort to disassociate himself from such comparisons.

However, given that he is already three years more advanced than Messi in that regard, those linkages seem unavoidable given his performance and his last night display has further indicated that Yamal could eclipse Messi if he continues in the same vain.

Messi scored an incredible 41 goals and contributed 14 assists by the time he played his 100th game under Pep Guardiola in 2010. In the meantime, Yamal amassed 21 goals and 33 assists, trailing only the legendary Messi by one G/A.

Not including international honours, Yamal has won three trophies with Barcelona compared to Messi’s four; the former, of course, won a Euros title in 2024, while the latter took home the gold medal from the 2008 Olympic Games.

It is important to note that prior to his 100th game, Messi had also won the first of his eight Ballon d’Or honours, something Yamal has obviously yet to accomplish.

Yamal’s professional path has been, to put it plainly, terrifying, but if he can keep going in that direction, he might even find himself talking to Messi frequently over the course of the next 20 years.

Lamine Yamal vs Lionel Messi after the first 99 games for Barcelona

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