Barcelona wonderkid now unable to break historic UEFA Champions League record

Lamine Yamal was one of the players most affected by Barcelona’s disappointing 4-1 defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

After the game, the youngster was left devastated at the fact that Barça couldn’t go through to the next stage. He was even captured crying after the final whistle.

Yamal misses chance to break Fati’s record

Since his emergence, Yamal has been a record-breaker for Barcelona. Back in September, he became the youngest player to appear in a Champions League match for Barcelona.

He even became the second-youngest player to play in the competition overall, just behind Borussia Dortmund’s Youssoufa Moukoko.

But one record Yamal would have been after was to become the youngest goalscorer in the history of the Champions League.

That record is currently held by Ansu Fati, who was once regarded as the next big thing at Barça. During the 2019/20 campaign, Fati had netted a goal against Inter Milan, at the age of just 17 years and 40 days.

Missed opportunity for Yamal (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

Ever since Yamal made his Champions League debut, it was almost given that he would soon break the record of the Barcelona maverick.

However, despite appearing in ten Champions League this season, Yamal has failed to score a single goal this season. He did rack up two assists, one of which came in last night’s encounter.

In fact, Yamal looked quite promising last night. But after Ronald Araujo’s red card, he had to be sacrificed around the half-hour mark, as he made way for Inigo Martinez.

Yamal’s missed opportunity means he cannot break Fati’s record anymore. The 2024/25 edition of the Champions League will follow the new format and clubs will start their UCL campaign from September 17-19.

However, Yamal turns 17 in July and will become older than Fati by the time Barça kickstart their UCL campaign next season.

The youngster does, however, have the opportunity to become the second youngster goalscorer as the next best record is held by Royal Antwerp’s George Ilenikhena, who scored at the age of 17 years and 119 days.