Thierry Henry awed by Lamine Yamal’s Champions League display: ‘It’s not normal to be like that at 17’

There were many standout moments from Barcelona’s 3-3 draw with Inter in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League semifinals on Wednesday, not least among them Lamine Yamal’s latest statement-making performance that demonstrated that he is not only a star of the future but one of the game’s current top talents.

Yamal was central to Barcelona’s strong attacking performance, taking four shots and creating two chances as the hosts put three past Inter. The 17-year-old had a big moment of his own, scoring in the 24th minute in a showcase of individual brilliance that kicked off Barcelona’s comeback from 2-0 down. It was only the latest game in which Yamal left many speechless, including Thierry Henry.

“What I witnessed tonight from Lamine Yamal … it’s not normal to be like that at 17,” Henry said during the UEFA Champions League Today post-match show. “I’m not talking about what he does when he’s on the ball, his awareness, how calm he is, how he sees the game, the way he will defend, put pressure. It’s just not normal. We talked about the 100 games that he already has at that age. It’s just stupid, really. I don’t even know what I’m watching, what I’m witnessing, but he played like a man possessed, and when I say ‘a man,’ he’s not even a man yet, technically. It’s just not normal.”

The statistics back up Henry’s claim that Yamal is at another level compared to other players his age. He has 50 goals and assists (22 goals, 28 assists) in his first 100 games at the club level, not far off Lionel Messi’s tally of 56 (41 goals, 15 assists) and well ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo’s tally of 27 (13 goals, 14 assists). Both Ronaldo and Messi were much older than Yamal when they hit the 100-game mark, and Messi had only seven games under his belt at Barcelona by the time he was Yamal’s age.

His record-breaking form is matched by his entertaining skills, something he is happy to call a trademark of his style of play.

“I like playing in a way that other people enjoy,” Yamal said in an interview on the UEFA Champions League Today post-match show.

Yamal’s trophy haul is equally impressive at his young age – he played a crucial role in Spain’s win at last year’s Euros and did so again when Barcelona won the Copa del Rey on Saturday. Should Barcelona walk away with the treble – still a very real possibility with their lead in La Liga and the fact that they are still in the Champions League – he will be a worthy winner of the prizes. He is already making a case for himself as one of the best players in the game, filling a gap left behind by Messi and Ronaldo as they enter the final years of their storied careers.

“One thing that always amazes me in football is you always think that there’s no way that someone is going to be better [than Messi or Ronaldo]” Henry said. “And then Yamal arrives, and then you have a new guy in Argentina, [Franco] Mastantuono that plays for River Plate, already winning that derby game on the free kick against Boca Juniors. That’s why football is amazing. There is a guy that soon, maybe in two to three years, that we’re going to talk about that’s not already on the scene, but it’s crazy to think that a guy – he’s 17 years old. [At] 17 years old, I made my debut, I think. It’s just crazy what he’s doing. It’s just not normal, but look, it’s great to see that there’s a new guy coming, a new guy on the block that looks like he might be dominating, and I wish that for him. Let’s not put him under pressure and say he should be on the throne or whatever.”

Jersey swap?

At the end of the interview, Henry said he would be in Barcelona for El Clasico in May and hoped to Yamal’s jersey for his son. Yamal was down, but he asked that Henry bring him one of his, and that it didn’t matter if it was a Barcelona jersey or Arsenal jersey.