Hansi Flick hailed the impact of Lamine Yamal after the 17-year-old helped inspire Barcelona to a 4-3 win over Real Madrid in an absorbing Clasico this afternoon.
Trailing 2-0 to Kylian Mbappe’s early double, it looked as though Madrid were going to trim Barca’s lead at the top the table to a solitary point before the home side hit back in devastating fashion.
Yamal netted the equaliser with another moment of individual brilliance, adding to Eric Garcia’s goal, before two Raphinha strikes saw Barca establish a 4-2 advantage.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐋𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 pic.twitter.com/6aKTCDkTqA
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) May 11, 2025
Mbappe halved the deficit by completing his hat-trick and both sides had goals disallowed deep into injury-time as Barca held on to move within one win of the Liga title.
Yamal lifted us – Flick
Asked about Yamal, Flick could not hide his admiration for the teenager for the way he, and his team-mates, bounced back from their Champions League elimination at Inter Milan in midweek.
The German said: “He is doing very well. He is confident, he believes in what he does and he is very smart. For me the important thing was that after the Milan defeat, my players got up, looked forward and he is an example of a player who has done it, he has got up.
“Today he has lifted us again with his goal and has made us come back. He is 17 years old and what he is doing is what we are asking of him.”
For all their attacking brilliance, however, Barcelona have conceded seven goals in their last two games and Flick accepts that is an area in which his team are sometimes lacking.
He added: “We have to improve a lot in defence, be more stable. When we press well everything works, but when you make a mistake, as in the first goal of the match, the situation gets complicated.
“But the players have worked well collectively. Today we had an important challenge, facing very fast players. We have to improve some defensive aspects, but with games every three days, often you can’t prepare the way you want in training.”
Liga race could be done this week
If Madrid drop points at home to Real Mallorca on Wednesday night, La Liga will be over.
If Madrid win, Barca will have the chance to claim the title in the derby at Espanyol 24 hours later.
Flick said: “I still don’t feel like a champion. It’s true that we are in a good position. It would be good to win three titles, but we still need one more victory, and all the rivals want to win against us.”
