Comparing Lamine Yamal’s Barcelona record after 120 games with Lionel Messi’s | OneFootball

Lamine Yamal made his 120th appearance for Barcelona over the weekend, but how does his record compare with Lionel Messi’s after the same number of matches? We’ve crunched the numbers.

Amazingly, he’s already managed to reach 120 appearances, having only recently celebrated his 18th birthday.

For comparison, Messi was 21 when he made his 120th appearance for Barcelona in October 2008.

When comparing their numbers at this stage, it’s amazing just how close they are. As of writing, Yamal has scored 32 goals and produced 43 assists, meaning he’s produced a total of 75 goal contributions.

At the same stage, Messi had scored 50 goals and produced 26 assists, meaning he had 76 goal contributions after 120 matches.

The fact that both players are only separated by one goal contribution at this stage highlights just how well Yamal has done during his career so far.

While his goalscoring numbers are lagging behind Messi’s, his creative numbers have been even better.

Arguably, the biggest task for Yamal will be to continue to produce these numbers across his entire career and become more prolific, if he wants to match Messi.

With the volume of games that younger players are playing these days, injuries and burnout are becoming increasingly regular.

When Messi was the same age as Yamal, he’d only played a fraction of the games that the Spaniard had and was being slowly eased into the Barcelona XI.

While Yamal continues to draw comparisons to Messi, the 18-year-old is keen to forge his own path in the game.

“I don’t compare myself to him, because I don’t compare myself to anyone – and much less with Messi,” Yamal told reporters in April.

“I don’t think the comparison makes sense, with Messi even less – I’m going to enjoy myself, and be myself.”

During a more recent interview, Yamal added to those thoughts and said: “I respect him [Messi] for what he represents in football.

“Should we meet, we will show mutual respect. I believe he is the best player of all time.

“Messi is aware that I am a capable footballer and that I hold him in high regard. The feeling is mutual.

“However, I do not aspire to be Messi. I want to carve my own path. I have no intention of playing like him or wearing the number ten because of Messi.”

After 120 Barcelona appearances, here’s the full breakdown of how Yamal’s record compares with Messi’s.

Lamine Yamal

Penalties: 7 ⭐