Rio Ferdinand heaps massive praise on Barcelona wonderkid after stunning UCL display vs Benfica | OneFootball

FC Barcelona secured their passage to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League last night after beating SL Benfica in the Round of 16 tie with a 4-1 score on aggregate.

Lamine Yamal was one of the standout players for his side in this game. He first gave the assist for Raphinha’s opening goal before himself scoring an outrageous goal to give his side the lead once again, after Benfica quickly equalised the first goal.

The Spanish forward received a fair share of praise for another highly impressive performance at such a young age.

As Mundo Deportivo has reported, one of the more notable names not associated with Barcelona who spoke highly of the youngster after this game was the former English defender and current commentator, Rio Ferdinand.

The Englishman took to social media to express his admiration for the Blaugrana star: “Lamine Yamal – not seen anything like him in my lifetime at this age – no one is doing what he has done at the same level with such consistency!”

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

This is also not the first time the former Manchester United defender has praised the Barcelona star for his incredible performances at such a young age.

But what makes his praise even more noteworthy is that he shared a dressing room with Cristiano Ronaldo at the Manchester club when the Portuguese legend was still quite young, and also saw Lionel Messi put in incredible performances for Barcelona from a very young age, also having played against him on some occasions, especially in the UCL final in 2011.

Thus, there is every reason to hope that Yamal will go on to have a career like these two superstars in the coming years. For now, he is already proving his talents and the ability to do so by impressing fans and commentators like Rio Ferdinand.