Bonmatí: Once-in-lifetime Yamal an ‘innate’ talent

BARCELONA: BARCELONA’S Aitana Bonmatí told ESPN there may never have been a teenager able to do what Lamine Yamal is doing after travelling to watch the men’s team’s Champions League semifinal against Inter Milan last week.

Bonmatí, a back-to-back winner of the Ballon d’Or Féminin, was in Milan to see an epic tie between Barça and Inter, with the Italians advancing to the final thanks to a 4-3 win after extra time on the day.

The two games between the teams, which yielded 13 goals, also proved the next step in Yamal’s young career, with the 17-year-old impressing despite Barça’s exit.

“I believe he is one of those players who comes around only once in a while, very rarely, and who has something innate,” Bonmatí told ESPN.

“He has surely worked tremendously hard, but what he does at his age on football pitches, on any football pitch, because what he did in the Inter tie, despite Barça not advancing, is quite spectacular.

“I don’t know if it has been seen before in a player of his age, but for me what he has going for him, or what it seems from the outside, is that he doesn’t think too much.

“He doesn’t overthink things, he’s not afraid, he’s not afraid of failing, he’s not afraid of disappointing, he thinks of nothing but the ball. And that is often what makes footballers great, isn’t it?

“Not overthinking things or giving in to external pressure too much, because, of course, at 17 he is already a global figure and everyone is talking about him, including everyone around him.

“It must be quite difficult to manage that, right? Maybe it’s because he handles things so naturally that it doesn’t affect him. And that is impressive, too.

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“I speak from outside because it also surprises me. And the other day, at the Giuseppe Meazza [San Siro], well, it was always about giving the ball to Lamine Yamal, wasn’t it?”

Bonmatí, who helped Barcelona win a sixth successive Liga F title at the weekend, was able to take advantage of some days off to travel to Milan as a supporter.

Despite Barça, the team’s she supported since a kid, exiting the Champions League, it was still a one-off experience for her.

“I’ve lost my voice because of that game… or thanks to that game,” she added.

“It was a unique experience. It was the first time watching Barça’s men’s team outside of Barcelona. I had never had the chance to go to another European stadium and watch them.

“I had two days off and I didn’t think twice. It was a spectacular semifinal. Despite the loss, it was a throwback to that feeling of being a fan, when I was a kid.

“I’m on the other side of it every week, with the fans in the stadium, but for that day I was a kid again, experiencing a game as a supporter, forgetting Aitana the footballer and being Aitana the person.

It may prove the only competition Barça’s men’s and women’s teams don’t win this season. Under Hansi Flick, the men have already won the Spanish Supercopa and the Copa del Rey, while Sunday’s 4-3 win over Real Madrid means they need just two points from their final three games to win LaLiga.

The women added the Liga F title to the Supercopa at the weekend and have finals to come in the Champions League, against Arsenal on May 24, and the Copa de la Reina, against Atlético Madrid on June 7.