BARCELONA, May 1 — Inter Milan coach Simone Inzaghi lavished praise on Barcelona’s teenage winger Lamine Yamal after a thrilling 3-3 Champions League semi-final first leg draw on Wednesday.
Yamal, 17, scored a superb solo goal on his 100th Barcelona game as the Catalans came back from two goals down and terrified Inter’s defence throughout.
“Yamal is clearly a talent of the type born every 50 years, talents like this I’ve never really seen before,” said Inzaghi.
“I saw him tonight for the first time and he created problems for us, we doubled up him… and then we lacked players elsewhere on the pitch…
“(Our performance) is a reason for great pride, and Yamal is a phenomenon of the kind born every 50 years.”
Inter kept Yamal quiet for some parts of the second half, which Inzaghi said was the objective after the teenager’s first-half display.
“We adjusted something, we had to be better on Yamal, which is not very simple,” continued the coach.
Inzaghi also said he had “some doubts” whether captain Lautaro Martinez, who went off injured at half-time, would be ready for the second leg.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick also hailed winger Yamal, who rejected comparisons to all-time great Lionel Messi on the eve of the game, but scored a goal the Argentine would have been proud of.
“I’m really happy that this talent that comes every 50 years plays for Barca,” said Flick, when Inzaghi’s words were put to him.
The German coach said Yamal sparked his team’s comeback.
“Lamine in the first half was so important for us, he created so many positive things and got the first goal,” the German coach told reporters.
“In the big matches you see the quality of this player and he showed it today, it’s really good to have him…
“He’s special, he’s a genius… you see all the details and it’s unbelievable how he does this.” — AFP
