The student surpassed the teacher. Lamine Yamal produced a masterpiece at Spotify Camp Nou with his three goals in Barcelona’s 4-1 victory over Villarreal, with Robert Lewandowski scoring the final goal of the match.
Pape Gueye scored for the visitors, but he was unable to stop the young Barça star. In fact, after this feat, Lamine became the third youngest player in history to score his first hat trick. Where do Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rank?
Yamal makes history against Villarreal
With two assists from Fermín López in the 28th and 37th minutes, Lamine sealed the first half against the Yellow Submarine. After another assist from Pedri Gonzalez in the 69th minute, the number 10 achieved the first hat-trick of his career.
Thus, at 18 years, 7 months, and 15 days, Yamal became the third youngest player to achieve this feat, although he is the first in the post-war era, according to Planet Football.
José Iraragorri (Athletic Bilbao), aged 17 years and 337 days, was the youngest person to score three goals in a single match in 1930. He is followed in second place by Pablo Pombo (Racing de Santander), aged 18 years and 200 days, who did the same in 1934.
Two years, nine months, and 30 days after his debut, Yamal surpassed Barcelona idol Lionel Messi, who scored his first hat trick in 2007 against Real Madrid (3-3) at 19 years, eight months, and 14 days. However, it doesn’t end there.
With his three goals, Lamine also left Cristiano Ronaldo behind. The Portuguese scored his first three goals in a single game during his first spell with Manchester United in 2008, in a resounding 6-0 victory over Newcastle United.
Meanwhile, the young Spanish rising star has scored 43 goals and provided 48 assists in his 140 games for Barça. In doing so, he also reached 100 goals faster than Leo and CR7, as both stars were 21 when they achieved this milestone.
It remains to be seen whether Yamal will also surpass Leo’s 896 goals or Cristiano’s 960.
Now, Yamal’s Barcelona is preparing to come back from a heavy defeat in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals against Atlético Madrid at the Metropolitano (4-0). The rematch will be played next Tuesday, March 2, in a match that will thrill the Spotify Camp Nou.
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