Lamine Yamal Drew Comparisons to Lionel Messi From Pundits After UCL Performance | OneFootball

The legend of Lamine Yamal continues to grow on a near daily basis.

The 17-year-old wunderkind made his 100th appearance for Barcelona on Wednesday during the club's UEFA Champions League semifinal match against Inter Milan, and he was undoubtedly the best player on the pitch across the 90 minutes of action.

Yamal scored a world class goal in the first half to help Barca erase an early 2–0 deficit, and his stellar play continued throughout the night. Those watching the match––including Manchester City superstar Erling Haaland––were left in disbelief, and his performance drew some major praise from the CBS Sports crew after the game, during which Jamie Carragher boldly compared the teenager to the great Lionel Messi.

"That was Messi-eqsue. That was like watching Messi in his heyday at Barca..." said Carragher, prompting Micah Richards to ask if Yamal was "the chosen one."

The broadcast then presented a glaring statistic, comparing Yamal's first 100 appearances for Barcelona with that of Messi. The results are stunning. Both players combined for exactly 55 goals and assists, with Yamal scoring 22 goals and assisting 33, while Messi scored 41 and assisted 14.

If anything was made clear from Wednesday's game, it's that Yamal has the potential to be an all-time great. His career at Barcelona is off to a prolific start, and he continues to mesmerize fans and pundits alike whenever he takes the field.