Comparing Lamine Yamal’s career record with Lionel Messi’s after 150 appearances | OneFootball

Lamine Yamal has now made 150 senior appearances for Barcelona and Spain, but how does his record compare with Lionel Messi‘s after the same number of matches? We’ve crunched the numbers.

While Yamal is keen to forge his own path in the game and doesn’t want to spend his career in Messi’s shadow, the comparisons are only natural.

Like Messi, Yamal has taken the football world by storm at such a young age and is rightly considered among the best players in the world right now.

It’s astonishing in itself that Yamal has already made 150 senior appearances, given that he’s only 18 years old.

Indeed, when Messi made his 150th appearance in 2008, he was 21 years old. When he was 18, he was still on the fringes of the Barcelona XI and hadn’t fully established himself yet.

Interestingly, when comparing both players after 150 games, there’s not a great deal to separate the two of them.

Messi has the edge when it comes to scoring goals, having scored 58 compared to Yamal, who has 40.

However, it’s the Spaniard who has the edge when it comes to assists, having racked up 57 assists compared to Messi who had 31 after 150 games.

When totting up their total goals and assists, Yamal’s overall tally sits at 97 goal contributions, whereas Messi had 89 goal involvements at this stage.

In terms of minutes, Yamal averages a goal or assist every 113 minutes, whereas Messi was producing a goal contribution every 115 minutes at that stage of his career.

While Yamal’s stats at this stage of his career are similar to Messi’s, he doesn’t like to compare himself to the Argentine legend.

“I don’t want to compare myself with anyone, and even less with Messi. That’s something I leave to you,” Yamal told reporters last year.

“I admire Messi a lot, so I don’t want to compare myself with the best player in football’s history. I still haven’t spoken with him in person.”

Messi himself has kept an eye on Yamal’s career from afar, having previously described the Spanish teenager as “one of the best players in the world.”

“He’s already a European champion with Spain,” Messi said.

“He’s just 17, in the middle of a growth process, and will keep on growing and contributing, just as I did.”

Here’s the full breakdown of how Messi and Yamal’s stats compare after making 150 appearances for club and country.

Lamine Yamal