Yamal will be at risk of playing too much at such a young age.

That is, can continuous high-intensity competition exhaust this young talent? Playing against Inter Milan in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final in the early morning of May 1, Yamal reached the historic milestone of 100 appearances for Barcelona at the age of only 17.

This is an achievement that not every player in the world can achieve. However, does having to work hard all the time affect the development of the Barcelona star?

Keep shining

The Champions League semi-final against Inter Milan once again demonstrated Yamal’s talent. He scored a spectacular solo goal, beating a series of Inter defenders before hitting the post and into the net, leaving the football world in awe.

“If there is any player who can be considered the embodiment of a new football superstar, it is Lamine Yamal,” said Sports . Yamal is on his way to becoming a real star. At just 15, he made his debut for Barcelona’s first team, becoming the youngest player ever to play for the La Liga club. Since then, Yamal has continued to break records: youngest scorer in La Liga, youngest scorer in the Champions League knockout stages, and youngest to appear and score for the Spanish national team.

The 2024/25 season saw Yamal explode with 14 goals and 12 assists in 30 La Liga games, along with a brilliant performance in the Copa del Rey, where he played a major role in Barcelona's victory over Real Madrid in the final with two decisive assists.

In the Champions League, when Barca struggled against an experienced and refined Inter, Yamal continued to demonstrate his star quality. Not only possessing top-notch technique, Yamal also showed maturity beyond his age. He was calm under pressure, making amazing moves.

Barcelona need to act now to ensure Yamal is not exhausted.

Barca are on the verge of a historic treble this season, and it was inevitable that Yamal would play continuously in recent times. However, sports medicine expert Raymond Verheijen expressed concern that “for a 17-year-old, playing 50 consecutive games a year will have serious consequences on the body”.

Worry

This season, Yamal has played 30 La Liga games, often playing the full 90 minutes, and has started 10/12 Champions League games. In total, Yamal has played 49 games for Barcelona this season, with over 4,000 minutes played. In addition, Yamal is also a mainstay of the Spanish national team, participating in the Euro 2024 championship campaign and Nations League matches over the past 10 months. He has played almost non-stop since the 2023/24 season, playing throughout the summer and into this year's season.

Over the past week, Yamal played 86 minutes in the 1-0 win over Mallorca, played the full 120 minutes in the match against Real Madrid in the King's Cup, and most recently, played the full 90 minutes in the draw with Inter Milan. Yamal has been a starter since the beginning of the year and has rarely had a break.

There have been many lessons learned at Barca over the years about the harm that overworking young players can cause. Pedri is a prime example. In the 2020/21 season, he played 73 games for Barcelona and Spain (including La Liga, Champions League, Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics).

This demanding schedule led to a series of injuries, particularly a recurring hamstring injury, which saw Pedri miss more than 70 games over the next three seasons. Between 2021 and 2024, the Spanish star suffered six serious injuries that disrupted his development.

Although he has now regained his form, Pedri admitted in an interview with El País : “I wish I had managed my playing time better when I was younger. My body paid the price.” Not only Pedri, Gavi, Ansu Fati or most recently Casado - other young talents from La Masia also had health problems when playing too much in their teens.

To protect Yamal, Barcelona should consider letting him rest for the time being. A star like Yamal deserves to shine for a long time, not just like a shooting star passing through the football sky.

Source: https://znews.vn/nghich-ly-cua-lamine-yamal-post1550245.html