Lamine Yamal's competitive spirit comes from afar: "We had to tell him enough"

Special correspondent to MadridThere is a veteran guide at Old Trafford who, when you reach the changing rooms of the imposing Manchester United stadium, stops in front of a mirror and likes to make this joke: "This is where Cristiano Ronaldo used to have a good time looking at himself in the mirror before each match," he says to the complicit smile of the tourists taking part in the tour. The Portuguese star was the first to love himself and to make it known, with more than one unfortunate statement: "They envy me because I'm handsome and rich." Represented by Jorge Mendes, he became a global star at United, first, and then at Real Madrid.Cristiano, not always easy to manage in the dressing room, reached 100 professional matches at twenty years old (19 years and 348 days) and with two trophies, a Super Cup with Sporting Portugal and an FA Cup with the Manchester team. Leo Messi did it at 20 years and 248 days and with five titles, including two Leagues and a Champions League. Lamine Yamal reached this figure much earlier: 17 years and 292 days, with a League and a European Championship under his belt. Now, at just 18 years old, he is on his way to winning his third League, as well as having won a Cup and two more Super Cups, and being Spain's star for the World Cup. Before reaching adulthood, he had already become a star. With all that it entails.

The Champions League, a title that has eluded Barça for over a decade, is the dressing room's great ambition. Also Lamine Yamal's, who defined it as the competition "most important alongside the World Cup". The club asked him to speak in the preview and counted on the footballer's complicity. "Coming back is not a miracle. If we don't go through, it won't be because we haven't tried until the end. We are a young team, with many culés".

After a few months without a profile picture on Instagram, his preferred social network and his most personal loudspeaker, Lamine has now uploaded one full of meaning before visiting the Metropolitano. It is LeBron James, who in 2016 led the greatest comeback in basketball history by overturning a 3-1 deficit in the finals against the Golden State Warriors. "He is an inspiration," he said. The winger from Rocafonda does not fear pressure; on the contrary, he already proved it last season in the Champions League against Inter. "Since I was little, I have been used to taking on more responsibilities than I should have for my age."

Managing frustration in moments of "tension"

He feels he has to lead the team and when things don't go as he would like, frustration also appears. As in the League match, precisely at the Metropolitano, just a few days ago. Despite ending up winning, Lamine felt he hadn't helped the team enough and went to the locker room angry. "There are moments of great tension during matches, but it's already in the past," he said this Monday. "He has a very strong personality, he has an extraordinary way of conceiving football. You could already see it when he was little. He always wanted to win, and we had to scold him to make him stop. We had to tell him enough. Because he wanted to score goals, give assists... If we conceded a goal, he was the first to go and get the ball from the goal and go to the center of the field to restart," recalls Inocente Díez to ARA,who signed Lamine for CF la Torreta, the first team where he played before joining La Masia, at seven years old.

"Sometimes in the replay of the match you see that what he does is incredible, but he is only 18 years old and maybe sometimes he gets angry if I substitute him or if he has gone through a situation where he has had four or five players in front of him, he has shot and missed. It can be frustrating if he doesn't manage to score, but I give him support. He is on a very good path and we are helping him develop in the right space. Not everything he does has to generate noise. I know everyone has their eyes on him because he is a fantastic player, but he is only 18 years old. I told him he can make mistakes, that I will protect him. He will be one of the best – or the best – players in the future," Flick defended him a week ago. "Flick has made it clear that he understands Lamine's moment. He shows firmness, without authoritarianism, and maintains the bond of mutual trust that is so difficult to generate between a coach and a footballer of his level," analyzes Marcela Herrera, professor of performance psychology at UVic and board member of the Catalan Association of Sports Psychology. Regarding Lamine's episode of frustration, the expert considers that "if it is well directed, it is a driving force to transform it into motivation."

Lamine Yamal, at just 18 years old, has the aura (and salary) of a star in a highly globalized world with powerful loudspeakers like social media, which also directly impact the ego. Flick is one of those in charge of ensuring that the progression of his most differential footballer does not go astray. Flick pampers his players, but he is also strict when he believes he should be. For example, he internally pulled Cubarsí's ears after the defeat at Anoeta in January. Publicly, he has applied the carrot and stick with Lamine in his press conferences. He often protects him, but when he has had to call him out in front of the press, he has done so too. “He is playing very well in the last few games. He makes good things happen for the team. In that, he is the best in the world,” said the coach before a match in which all of Barcelona dreams of a comeback in Madrid.