Stats: Lamine Yamal vs Gvardiol as Barca starlet gives Man City stopper Messi flashbacks | OneFootball

An insight into the statistics behind the battle between Spain star Lamine Yamal, and Croatia defender Joško Gvardiol, has been forthcoming online.

Spain and Croatia, of course, locked horns on the international stage on Saturday evening.

In the respective nations’ Euro 2024 opening fixture, the former ultimately made short work of Zlatko Dalić’s men, en route to a 3-0 result.

On target for La Roja across the 90 minutes were the trio of Álvaro Morata, Fabián Ruiz, and Dani Carvajal.

Post-match, though, it was another member of Luis de la Fuente’s squad whose name took its place front and centre in the headlines.

The player in question? Lamine Yamal.

16-year-old Lamine was faced with one of the toughest tasks of his fledgling career to date on Saturday, by way of a one-on-one showdown with Manchester City standout Joško Gvardiol.

The duel between the pair was much talked about in the buildup to the clash, billed as one of the most important on the pitch.

When all was said and done, though, there was one clear and outright winner – Lamine.

Combining explosive pace, gorgeous touch, silky dribbling and, crucially, end product, the Barcelona sensation ensured that Gvardiol endured something of an outing to forget.

As much is made clear by the statistics, with Sofascore having rated the former at 7.5/10, and defender Gvardiol at 6.2:

One particular sequence in Berlin, meanwhile, gave rise to widespread chatter across social media, as Lamine left Gvardiol for dead down the outside, sparking swift comparisons with a moment in which Barcelona’s greatest-ever player did the same at the World Cup back in 2022:

Conor Laird | GSFN