Lamine Yamal spent Sunday evening doing the only kind of campaigning that actually counts.
Two goals at the Ciutat de València, the man-of-the-match award, and a quiet promotion to the summit of LaLiga’s scoring charts — all of it delivered on the grass rather than in a press room, six weeks before the Ballon d’Or is handed out in London.
Lamine Yamal is now joint-top of the Pichichi race
The brace against Levante took the Barcelona No.10 to six LaLiga goals in five matchdays, which puts him level at the head of the Pichichi standings with his own captain Raphinha, Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappé and Rayo Vallecano’s Sergio Camello, as Mundo Deportivo noted on Monday morning. Across all competitions he has seven in six appearances, the extra one coming in the Champions League opener against Feyenoord.
For a 19-year-old who is still, technically, a winger, that is a striker’s return. It also arrives in the specific window that matters: the Ballon d’Or gala takes place in London on Monday 26 October, and the votes are being cast while Barcelona play.
The brace that took him there
The first goal was a Barcelona goal in the purest sense. Pau Cubarsí broke Levante’s first line of pressure with a pass into Fermín López, who released Raphinha in behind; the Brazilian killed a dropping ball with one touch, went round the goalkeeper, ran out of angle on the byline and simply rolled it back for Lamine to finish into an empty net. Four passes from their own box to 0-2.
The second was a different kind of persistence. Lamine appealed for handball against Mandi at the start of the second half, got nothing from the referee, went to collect the loose ball himself — and was then caught from behind by the same defender for a penalty he converted to make it 0-3. Winning your own penalty after being waved away is, in its way, a fair summary of his season so far.
It was Xavi Espart who had opened the scoring in the fifth minute, and Karim Adeyemi who closed it after Levante’s late double had turned a comfortable evening into a nervous one. The scoreline finished 2-4.
Raphinha, the other arrow
The Blaugrana currently have two players operating at this level, and only one of them is on the Ballon d’Or shortlist. Raphinha — eight goals in all competitions, two assists against Feyenoord, and the man who created Lamine’s first on Sunday — was left out of the 30 nominees entirely, a decision Mundo Deportivo called unjust and which has not gone down well in Catalonia.
The captain also had his own piece of history within reach at Levante: only César Rodríguez in 1950-51 and Zlatan Ibrahimovic in 2009-10 have scored in each of Barcelona’s first five LaLiga matchdays, and Raphinha arrived in Valencia having scored in the first four. He did not add to the run, so the pair keep their company for another year.
Six weeks to London
Lamine has not been shy about his own case. In a preview of his interview with Universo Valdano, he named himself and Mbappé as the two standout players of the year and said he believed the award should be his. Behind the confidence sits last season’s 24 goals and 18 assists, a LaLiga title, the Spanish Super Cup and a World Cup winner’s medal with Spain.
The numbers around him are moving in the same direction. Barcelona sit top with 15 points from 15, 21 scored and four conceded, three clear of Real Madrid, and Hansi Flick’s side are two wins away from equalling the best league start in the club’s history. Racing de Santander visit the Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday at 21:30 CEST, with Sevilla away on Saturday.
Two more chances, then, for the No.10 to keep making the argument in the only language the voters can watch.
