“Pressure doesn’t exist” – Barcelona star Lamine Yamal explains secret to meteoric rise | OneFootball

There are a multitude of impressive things about Lamine Yamal’s trajectory at the tender age of just 17, but arguably the one that stands out the most is his ability to handle pressure. The teenage star has shown no sign of being phased at any stage of his development, despite going from his professional debut to global superstar in the space of 18 months.

Questions have been asked about whether it is healthy or safe for someone so young to occupy the spotlight to such a degree, with his rise unprecedented in the modern era. However his personality perhaps explains why both Barcelona and Spain have been so confident in handing him opportunities. Asked how he deals with the pressure, Lamine Yamal says it simply doesn’t exist.

“Everyone starts from scratch when they start playing, so there’s no pressure. It’s only when you start having bad games that the excuse they use is pressure. I think it’s something that doesn’t exist if you’re thinking about enjoying yourself and having a good time; that’s what I try to do.”

This is not to say that he did not have teething problems at any point during his progress, moving quickly through the ranks at La Masia.

“Moving up through the youth ranks is all very nice, but the reality is that for a 14-year-old, being with a 19-year-old is difficult. In the mornings, I’d go to school with my friends where we’d mess around, and then I’d go to the dressing room where there were kids talking about things like having to pay for their flat.”

Image via FC Barcelona

“These were the kinds of issues I discussed with the club psychologist, who helped me a lot. The adaptation process would have been very difficult for me. In the end, I was just a ‘brat’ to them,” he explained to DAZN, as quoted by Sport.

There is little sense of that now. While perhaps it was overblown at the time, there was a media storm when veteran Robert Lewandowski was seen chastising the then 16-year-old Lamine Yamal for not passing to him. Nowadays, Lamine Yamal commands plenty of respect from his teammates, and while it does not prevent him from the odd telling off, his teammates implicitly trust his decision-making.