Lamine Yamal: The star of Barcelona’s 2025/26 La Liga title
FC Barcelona’s prodigious forward, Lamine Yamal, took the league by storm this season, breaking a series of records while leading the Catalans towards a second straight La Liga title. He is also among the players to watch at the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2026.
The 2025/26 La Liga campaign has been one for the books for FC Barcelona forward Lamine Yamal. Aged only 18, the La Masia product carried the Catalan side on his shoulders, leading them all the way to the league title for the second season in a row. His numbers have been sublime, having amassed 16 goals and 12 assists in 28 league matches. But, the numbers alone may not be enough to describe his impact on a Barça side which boasts by far the finest attack in the top tier, averaging 2.6 goals per game.
An extraordinary talent
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With Robert Lewandowski having lost his undisputed starter status and with Raphinha struggling with injury issues during the season, Lamine Yamal did not hesitate to step up and carry the team on his shoulders, taking the league by storm. A few months after ending the 2024/25 term with nine goals and 15 assists, the Spain international hit the ground running with two goals and three assists in his first three games of the season.
A groin injury was not enough to halt his momentum, with Lamine Yamal coming to the fore when FC Barcelona needed him most. Having lost 2-1 in the first El Classico of the season at the Bernabéu, Los Azulgranas saw the then-leaders Real Madrid stretch their lead at the top of the table to five points. Yet, with Lamine Yamal leading the charge, the Catalan side would go on a nine-game winning streak, the teenager bagging five goals and three assists in that stretch.
FC Barcelona overtook Los Blancos in the standings, and Lamine Yamal took centre stage by making sure that they stayed ahead of the pack throughout. Despite not finding the back of the net in his first two games of 2026, the Spanish winger went on to register nine goals and four assists in his last 12 games before picking up an injury that will sideline him until the end of the season.
A record-breaking machine
That run included his first-ever hat-trick in a 4-1 victory over Villarreal CF back in late February, when he became the youngest FC Barcelona player to score three goals in a single league game at 18 years and 230 days. Despite having missed seven league games through injury, he still leads the dribbling charts across Europe’s top five leagues this season and could finish top of that table even without featuring this term again.
Accustomed to breaking records since becoming the youngest player to start a La Liga game in 2023/24 at the age of 16 years and 38 days old, over the last few years he has also become the youngest to provide a league assist, score a goal, feature and score in El Clasico and record a brace. And these are just the records he has broken in domestic competition.
On a day where he pulled off one of his finest performances this season by netting a goal and grabbing two assists in a 4-1 derby victory over RCD Espanyol at the Spotify Camp Nou, Lamine Yamal also became the youngest player to reach 100 league appearances, overtaking Real Madrid legend Raúl González. It should also be noted that no Spanish player bar David Villa (18) has netted more goals in a league season for FC Barcelona than Lamine Yamal’s 16 this term.
More records, goals and assists will surely follow in the future, but the 2025/26 campaign will be written in history books as the season in which an 18-year-old carried his team on his shoulders and all the way to glory.
