Chasing greatness – Lamine Yamal’s record-breaking rise at Messi’s debut age

Lionel Messi’s greatness at Barcelona will perhaps never be overtaken in the future, for the Argentine stood out for the club and led from the front every time he took to the field for over 15 years.

His story with the first team began at the age of 6324 days of age when he made his official debut for the senior setup in La Liga against Espanyol in Montjuic.

Now, Lamine Yamal turned 6324 days today, hours after taking Espanyol apart at the same venue. While Messi only made his debut at that age, however, Yamal is already a seasoned campaigner.

Unreal numbers

Yamal’s debut for Barcelona came at the tender age of 15 years and 9 months against Real Betis, and since then, he has only got better with every passing game and his records and numbers are simply scary.

Special. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Among the several records he has to his name are the all-time youngest goalscorer for Barcelona, the youngest goalscorer in La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. 

He is also the second-youngest scorer in the UCL and earlier this week became the youngest player to score in the history of El Clasico at just 17 years and 105 days.

At the age at which Messi made his debut, Yamal already has 83 appearances with Barcelona’s first team in which he has scored 13 goals and provided 17 assists. He has also won the Kopa Trophy and La Liga’s Player of the Month.

If his exploits at the club level are not enough, he is already a protagonist with the Spanish National Team and helped them to the Euro 2024 title, winning the award for the best young player in the process.

He has three goals and eight assists with La Roja and is already a regular starter under Luis de la Fuente.