The (supposed) redemption of Lamine Yamal

Lamine Yamal scored the goal that completed the spectacular comeback at the Metropolitano on Sunday. After Barça had bounced back from 2-0 down, his 92nd minute strike meant they would not just be salvaging a point, but would be coming back to Catalonia with all three!

After collecting the ball on the edge of the sea, the 17-year-old's shot took a fortunate deflection off defender Reinildo, utterly confounding Atlético Madrid keeper Jan Oblak and sparking euphoria among blaugrana supporters worldwide.

Redemption. What redemption?

It was Lamine's first league goal since November 16 at the Bernabéu. But anyone who has been talking about it ending a goal drought is somewhat off the mark. After all, he may not have scored a league goal for over three months, but in that time he has netted an impressive six times in other competitions, including one of the key contributions to the victory in the Spanish Super Cup Final.

And he may not have been scoring in the league, but that's hardly because he's been taking a back seat. Not only has he been playing dreamlike football, but he has provided no fewer than five assists, matched with Saúl Ñíguez, Jude Bellingham and Sergi Cardona for the highest tally in the period.

Top for assists

In total, the starlet has six goals and 11 assists in the domestic championship, the latter three more than anyone else in the competition, with Iñaki Williams and his team-mate Raphinha tied in second with eight. Anyone who has the audacity to knock Lamine Yamal clearly has no idea what they are talking about.

He has unquestionably been one of, if not the, standout players of La Liga 2024/25. And let's not forget that he has not yet turned eighteen... Incredible!