Lamine Yamal more decisive and more of a leader than ever

Lamine Yamal is establishing himself as more decisive and more of a leader than ever. At 19, Barcelona’s No. 10 is enjoying a highly notable start to the season, contributing to his team’s collective successes with his performances.

His impact has been especially clear in La Liga. He already has seven goals and sits at the top of several statistical rankings. After the first seven matchdays, he shares the lead for assists with four, level with his teammate Anthony Gordon and Espanyol player Javi Hernández. He is also the league’s leading dribbler with 30 successful dribbles, ahead of Kylian Mbappé’s 25.

Dribbling and passing are two of his main strengths, which he displays regularly on the pitch. His vision also enables him to find teammates in dangerous positions: he leads the rankings for key passes with 28 and big chances created with 10 since the start of the La Liga campaign.

His ability to draw opposing defences creates more space for the rest of the team, a situation he is making the most of. His seven goals place him level with Mbappé and Camello, and mark the best scoring start of his career. Only Raphinha’s form, with 12 La Liga goals, is keeping him from also leading the goalscoring standings.

This output contrasts with his previous starts to a season: he had scored only twice in the first seven matchdays of the previous campaign, when he played little because of pubalgia. In the two preceding campaigns, his tally at the same stage was three goals and then none, respectively.

His La Liga performances have been complemented by a standout Champions League debut against Feyenoord, when he scored once and provided two assists. His progress over the first month and a half of the competition has been clear. He will now seek to carry that momentum into the Spain national team: the Barcelona winger will be Spain’s main threat in Nations League matches against England, Croatia and the Czech Republic.