Barcelona sensation set to face one of his toughest challenges against Real Madrid | OneFootball

Lamine Yamal is already one of the best football players in the world, let alone in his position, and going head-to-head against the young phenom is terrifying for any opposing defender.

Even Nuno Mendes, widely considered the best left-back in the world, struggled to put up with Lamine and eventually moved to an attacking role in PSG’s recent clash against Barcelona to protect himself from a possible second yellow card.

One of the only other defenders in world football to have a semi-reasonable record against the teenager is Alvaro Carreras, Real Madrid’s summer signing who has gone up against Yamal thrice already and will face him for the fourth time in tomorrow’s El Clasico.

A fascinating match-up

The first time Yamal and Carreras locked horns was just over two years ago when Carreras was at Granada on loan from Manchester United.

It was the night Yamal scored his first-ever goal in La Liga, but the defender put in a reasonable shift both in defence and attack.

The duo then played against each other twice last season when Carreras was at Benfica.

A tough battle awaits against Alvaro Carreras. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Their first meeting came in Barcelona’s stunning 4-5 comeback win, a night where Yamal neither scored nor assisted.

Notably, however, he did force the player into a foul that earned the team a penalty. He was relatively silent, yet completed six out of six attempted dribbles.

Their next meeting came in the knockout stages of the competition when Barcelona won 1-0 away from home in the first leg. Yamal again did not have a goal contribution, but again completed 100% of his dribbles.

The duo will face off for the fourth time tomorrow, and it will be fascinating to see how the battle on the flank unfolds.

After all, Yamal does not have the best goal contribution record against Carreras, but the defender has also not succeeded in maintaining a total grip over the young winger.