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Martinez, who plays alongside Messi for Argentine, refused to feed into the comparison between Barcelona wonderkid Yamal and the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi.
Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi.
Inter Milan star Lautaro Martinez has refused to compare Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal with Lionel Messi. Martinez was up against Yamal in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals, played in Barcelona on Wednesday. The Spanish teenager no doubt got on their nerves as Inter Milan ended the away fixture at a 3-3 draw despite taking the lead twice. The visitors were ahead by two goals in the 24th minute when Yamal pulled off a brilliant solo effort to reduce the deficit for Barcelona. He dribbled past two defenders before slotting the ball home with a stunning curler off the second bar. Two of his shots had hit the post later in the game.
Martinez, who started as the Inter Milan captain, was unable to finish the match. He picked up an injury moments before the first-half whistle. The Argentine was forced to be subbed off, with Mehdi Taremi replacing him in the striker’s role.
At the post-match interview, Martinez was asked if it’s fair to compare Yamal with Messi. The Inter Milan star has played with Messi as part of the Argentina national team. Now, after seeing Yamal’s performance in the Champions League semi-final, Martinez said, “For me, Leo is incomparable, because Leo is and will always be the best player of all time.”
“I’m not going to make that comparison. All I can say is that Lamine is an important player, we’ve all seen him, we all know him,” he added.
Ahead of the home game against Inter, Yamal was also questioned about being compared with Messi. In response, the 17-year-old said, “I don’t compare myself to him, because I don’t compare myself to anyone, and much less with Messi. I don’t think the comparison makes sense, with Messi even less – I’m going to enjoy myself, and be myself.”
Yamal made his 100th appearance for Barcelona in the Champions League clash against Inter. He is the youngest player to achieve the feat in the history of the Catalan club. Since his debut for the senior team, the teenage wing forward has registered 22 goals and 33 assists across all competitions.
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