Barcelona’s rising star Lamine Yamal has made an honest confession about Lionel Messi and Neymar.
The 16-year-old talent has quickly become Camp Nou’s next big hope, following his rapid rise through the academy ranks into the club’s first team. Yamal has also enjoyed record-breaking performances for both club and country. He has already racked up 33 matches for Barca and four matches for Spain at a young age.
Although his tremendous rise and talent have both been compared to Lionel Messi, Lamine Yamal has confessed his preference for Neymar’s playstyle. He said in an interview (via DNA Blaugrana):
“Messi is the best, but the one I stop to watch in the videos is Neymar.”
Notably, both football legends have played together at Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain. Neymar joined up with the Argentine legend at Camp Nou in 2013, building a formidable partnership alongside Luis Suarez to dominate Europe for nearly half a decade.
However, he opted for a world-record (€222 million) move to PSG in 2017, where he was later joined by Messi. They have shared the pitch 206 times, combining for 67 goals.
Now, the Argentine playmaker is enjoying life in the USA with Inter Miami, while his former Brazilian teammate is in the Middle East with Al-Hilal.
Barcelona legend Lionel Messi explains absence from Inter Miami friendly with Hong Kong
Inter Miami faced Hong Kong XI in a friendly match on February 4 during their world tour, with many fans looking forward to watching Lionel Messi play. However, the Argentine legend didn’t show up due to an injury. It created a controversy and led to fans chanting for refunds while Miami co-owner David Beckham gave a speech.
The Barcelona legend has now opened up about the reasons for his absence, explaining (via EuroSport):
“Unfortunately, in football, things can happen in any game, that we may have an injury. It happened to me. I couldn’t play in the Hong Kong match, and it was a shame because I always wanted to participate. I wanted to be there, and even more so when it came to these games when we travelled so far and people were so excited to see our matches.”
He added:
“I hope we can return and we can play another game and I can play, as I do whenever I can. But the truth is that it is a shame that I was not able to participate.”
The Hong Kong government didn’t take his absence from the game lightly, as they demanded an explanation publicly.
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