Lamine Yamal was quick to respond to Kylian Mbappé. In recent hours, the Real Madrid star striker has made the headlines in the Spanish media with the interview he gave to A.S.just a few days after that carried out with the organizer of the Ballon d’Or. The Frenchman has launched his media campaign, but his rival FC Barcelona is not left out. Tonight, at 9 p.m., Movistar+ will broadcast the full interview with Lamine Yamal. Unsurprisingly, the young 19-year-old Blaugrana striker raised the hot topic of the Ballon d’Or. Mundo Deportivo was nevertheless able to broadcast the first extracts of the interview. And the young Spanish world champion obviously has his own rules. While the Ballon d’Or is based on three essential criteria (individual performance, collective performance and class + fair play), number 10 culé believes that only the individual criterion counts.
So for him, none of the Paris Saint-Germain players named (Ousmane Dembélé, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Fabian Ruiz, Vitinha, Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes, João Neves, Achraf Haikimi) deserve to be crowned even after having won a second consecutive Champions League. “This price is now perceived differently. Back when there was Messi and Cristiano, everyone knew they were the two best in the world. The prize was therefore shared between these two players. The problem today is that people give importance to elements that do not relate to the Ballon d’Or. For example, when we say that a PSG player must win it because he won the Champions League. When we win the Champions League, we give the Champions League trophy to PSG, which was the best team. That’s the price that goes to PSG. It’s a completely different story if PSG has the best player in the world in its ranks. In this case, I think this award should go to the best player in the world, period. »
Lamine Yamal dictates his rules
According to Lamine Yamal, the reigning double European champions therefore do not have the best player in the world. And he didn’t stop there. As a reminder, Kylian Mbappé indicated that he deserved to be crowned thanks to his status as top scorer last season in La Liga, the Champions League and the World Cup. “Being the top scorer in the history of the World Cup, passing all the greatest legends in the history of sport in the most important tournament that sport has created, is something that burns the retina. It’s a global event. Finishing top scorer in all the most important competitions, where all the best players in the world play, is something important. I don’t know if it’s ever been done, but I always assume that the story should always be rewarded. » But for Lamine Yamal, being a serial scorer is not enough to win.
“Not to a player who has scored 80 goals, because when you score 80 goals, you receive the title of “pichichi” of the season. These are very different things that people don’t understand. The best player in the world is the one who, when you watch the match as a commentator, gives you a good time, the one you see and who clearly stands out from the others. When we come back to that and the best player in the world is the best – and not the one who scores the most goals or who has won the most titles – then this prize will regain its full value. » No one knows who will succeed Ousmane Dembélé on the list of winners, but Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappé were clearly not afraid when it came to displaying their ambitions, even if it meant lacking class compared to the other candidates…
