Why Barcelona star Yamal disappeared in the Champions League
Robin Bairner
- 5 Oct 2023 07:32 BST
- 3 min read
Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal had a first Champions League start he won’t forget – as he quite literally disappeared from the field of play midway through the second half of the club’s 1-0 victory over Porto.
He made history when he became the youngest Barcelona player to be named from the outset of a Champions League game at the age of 16 years and 83 days, but he was unable to complete the full match.
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Yamal kicked the ball out of play after 71 minutes so a Porto player could receive treatment for an injury, but at that same time he went to the locker room.
Barcelona head coach Xavi, who has shown such faith in the teenager, expected him to return, but after watching his side play shorthanded for 10 minutes, he elected to throw on Marcos Alonso as a replacement.
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What happened to Lamine Yamal?
The reason why Yamal, who is notably absent from EA Sports FC 24, left the field is quite simple: he was ill.
Xavi explained after the match: “Yamal was sick. He was suffering from an illness. He had been telling me that for a while. He asked to go to the bathroom during the stop and I asked him to come back quickly. He went and did not come back.”
It was not Yamal’s best outing for Barcelona, but that is understandable given the circumstances surrounding his appearance.
Lamine Yamal vs Porto
| Minutes | 79 |
| Goals | 0 |
| Assists | 0 |
| Touches | 39 |
| Shots | 2 |
| Shots on target | 0 |
| Key passes | 1 |
| Pass completion | 76.9% |
| Possession won | 7 |
| Possession lost | 10 |
The teenager failed to muster a single shot on target over the course of the match, but he did manage one key pass. He struggled to get involved in the match, touching the ball only 39 times and completing only 76.9% of his passes, while he gave away possession 10 times.
In that regard, it was a match to forget for Yamal, who is aiming to become Barcelona’s youngest scorer in Champions League history – a record currently held by Ansu Fati, who was 17 and 40 days when he scored against Inter in 2019.
