Inter Milan forward Marcus Thuram has played down suggestions that Lamine Yamal is the best footballer in the world, despite the teenager’s standout display in Barcelona’s 3-3 draw in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday night.
Yamal, who has Equatorial Guinean and Moroccan roots, delivered an impressive performance at the Montjuic, scoring one of Barcelona’s goals in a thrilling encounter with the Italian giants.
The 17-year-old continues to garner praise for his mature performances at the highest level, but Thuram offered a more measured perspective following the match.
When asked by French broadcaster Canal+ whether the young winger is already the world’s best, Thuram was quick to dismiss the idea.
“I don’t think so,” he said. “The best player in the world is French, and the second best too. They are Kylian Mbappé and Ousmane Dembélé. Yamal is the third, perhaps.”
Despite the blunt assessment, Thuram still recognised Yamal’s quality and influence on the match.
He recounted words of encouragement he shared with teammate Federico Dimarco after the young Spaniard scored.
“I encouraged (Fede) Dimarco, I told him that it was normal that Yamal had managed to score, that he would have done it anyway, no matter what happened, but that we shouldn’t give up and keep bothering him.”
The Inter striker also highlighted the collective effort required to contain talents like Yamal.
“You can’t stop players like that on your own; you only stop them as a team. Double-marking him? Maybe with eleven players…”
The second leg of the semi-final will take place next week at San Siro, where Yamal will again be central to Barcelona’s hopes of reaching the final.
Whether he can shift more opinions in his favour, including Thuram’s, remains to be seen.
