Inter star denies Lamine Yamal best in the world tag – ‘Maybe he’s third’ | OneFootball

Inter forward Marcus Thuram has rejected the idea that Lamine Yamal is the best player in the world currently, on a night when pundits, players and press were seduced by a brilliant performance from the 17-year-old. The Barcelona teenager scored Barcelona’s opener and hit the woodwork twice, but was at the heart of everything good the Blaugrana did.

‘Maybe he’s third’ – Inter forward Marcus Thuram

It was Marcus Thuram who opened the scoring for Inter in the first minute with an excellent flick. After the match there was almost unanimous consensus that Lamine Yamal was up there with the best ever at his age, and some began to ask if there was anyone better in the world currently.

Image via Marca

“No, I don’t think so. The best player in the world is French. The second best player, I think, is also French. They are Ousmane [Dembele] and Kylian [Mbappe],” Thuram explained to Canal+, as carried by Marca. “Yamal is maybe the third,” Thuram conceded.

Wherever he ranks, left wing-back Federico Dimarco had a tough time with Lamine Yamal. Thuram explained that he was saying to the Italian defender during the game.

“I encouraged Dimarco, telling him that it was normal for Yamal to pass, that he always would, no matter what we did, but that we shouldn’t give up and keep wearing him down.”

“You can’t stop players like that alone; you can do it as a team. Two-on-one marking? Maybe eleven-on-one marking. We’ll see what the coach asks of us,” he said of their plans to stop him in the second leg.

Simone Inzaghi full of praise for Lamine Yamal

One of the headlines from after the match was the words of Inter manager Simone Inzaghi, who had the following to say, as quoted by The Times (via Siempre Barca).

“I hadn’t seen him live before. I haven’t seen a player like that in eight-nine years. He is the sort of talent that comes around once every 50 years.”

Lamine Yamal frustrated after the game

Despite being in reasonable spirits in his post-match interview, Lamine Yamal admitted that he was frustrated with the fact that his side could not win the game ultimately. Barcelona will be kicking themselves that they conceded the way they did, in the first minute and from two set pieces. That said, Lamine Yamal and the success their attack had will give them hope they can get a result in Milan. Certainly French international teammate Adrien Rabiot will be able to tell Thuram that it is a risky strategy challenging Lamine Yamal in this state of form, following the Euro 2024 semi-final. No doubt he will feel almost required to back his teammates Dembele and Mbappe though.