• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Lionel Messi's former Barcelona coach reveals who is better at 17 between him and Lamine Yamal

Home> Football> Football News> Champions League

Updated 16:59 2 May 2025 GMT+1Published 09:51 1 May 2025 GMT+1

Lionel Messi's former Barcelona coach reveals who is better at 17 between him and Lamine Yamal

The young Barcelona star is already being compared with some of the best footballers of all time.

Ben McCrum

Ben McCrum

Lionel Messi's former Barcelona coach has given his verdict on if Lamine Yamal is a better player at the age of 17.

After bursting onto the scene straight out of Barcelona's famous La Masia academy, Yamal has quickly established himself as one of the best footballers in the world.

His impressive and dominant performances for the La Liga giants have immediately led to fans comparing Yamal's quick rise to glory to that of club legend Messi.

Advert

And now, one of Messi's former Barcelona coaches has weighed in to give his view on the comparisons between Yamal and a young Messi.

On Wednesday, Yamal played a key role in Barcelona's comeback in a thrilling 3-3 draw in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final match with Inter Milan.

While covering the match live for Dutch outlet Ziggo Sport, former Real Madrid and Inter star Wesley Sneijder revealed that he received a text from Henk ten Cate, Messi's former coach, claiming Yamal could already have surpassed Messi's early career.

Advert

Speaking on Ziggo Sport, Sneijder said: "Henk ten Cate just said that Yamal is already further along than Messi was at that age. And he has experienced Messi up close.

"Yes, I had app contact with Henk. He told me. We have to believe that, because he was close. So then we believe that: Yamal is further along."

Although some fans may be surprised to hear this, when you compare the statistics of Yamal and Messi when he was 17, there is one clear winner.

At 17 years old, Messi had made just nine appearances for Barcelona, scoring only one goal and registering zero assists.

Advert

Meanwhile Yamal already boasts 100 appearances for the La Liga side, averaging at least one goal contribution every other game with 22 goals and 33 assists.

Of course, Yamal still has a long way to go if he hopes to match Messi's legendary career that has seen him score 858 goals and win several of the biggest trophies in football including the World Cup and a record eight Ballon d'Ors.

Lamine Yamal is already being compared with some of the best players of all-time. (Image: Getty)
Lamine Yamal is already being compared with some of the best players of all-time. (Image: Getty)

How does Yamal compare to Messi and Ronaldo at 17?

As a 17-year-old, Cristiano Ronaldo was ahead of his future rival Messi having made 19 appearances for Portuguese side Sporting, scoring five goals and assisting four.

Advert

But these statistics still put him well behind Yamal, who also boasts the fact that he won a major international trophy with Spain long before either Ronaldo or Messi did so with Portugal or Argentina.

Following Yamal's impressive performances in Spain's title-winning Euro 2024 campaign, Ronaldo was asked for his thoughts on the youngster while speaking with former Manchester United teammate Rio Ferdinand.

Speaking on the Cristiano YouTube channel, Ronaldo said: “I see huge potential, great talent.

"He'll need luck because he is very young , I hope he does not have any problems

Advert

"He was in a contest that helped him a lot, he was in the Spain national team which is really really good and I think he has huge potential.

"But let's see during his way what's going to happen but I believe he is gonna be one of the best players in this generation."

Featured Image Credit: Getty

Topics: Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi, Barcelona, Football, La Liga, Cristiano Ronaldo, Champions League

Ben McCrum
Ben McCrum

Ben is a sports journalist who specialises in football and MMA. He has written for publications such as Manchester Evening News, WiganToday, Manchester World and beIN Sports. Throughout his career he has interviewed top athletes in MMA including Tom Aspinall and Michael Bisping.

X

@benmcc14

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Lamine Yamal and Barcelona teammates set for staggering bonus if Real Madrid lose as contract clause revealed
  • Why Lamine Yamal has been given unusual 'Ryan' nickname at Barcelona after El Clasico win
  • Lamine Yamal personally endorses Barcelona signing one player this summer
  • Marcus Thuram mocks Lamine Yamal with savage post after Inter's win over Barcelona before swiftly deleting it

Choose your content:

15 mins ago
an hour ago
2 hours ago
  • 15 mins ago

    Mo Salah hits out at Liverpool fans over their treatment of Trent Alexander-Arnold and makes request to fans

    The Liverpool forward has had his say on the actions of the Reds supporters who booed Alexander-Arnold.

    Football
  • an hour ago

    Xabi Alonso 'personally requests' former Man United star as one of his first signings at Real Madrid

    The Bayer Leverkusen boss has been mooted as Carlo Ancelotti's successor at Real Madrid.

    Football
  • 2 hours ago

    Highest-paid Championship players revealed as Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney plan to gatecrash top 10 with Wrexham transfer

    The North American pair took over the soon-to-be Championship club in February 2021.

    Football
  • 2 hours ago

    Paddy Pimblett goes on huge Trent Alexander-Arnold rant and reveals exactly what will happen if he attends Liverpool title parade

    The UFC star names two players who are more 'scouse' than Alexander-Arnold

    Football