(C)Getty imagesSometimes it isn't the collective that gets you out of trouble. It's one player who can untie the knots when everything else has stopped working.
No one in world football right now carries more solutions than Lamine Yamal, and the Barcelona star proved it again against Real Betis in La Liga.
Barcelona won 5-2 at the Benito Villamarin on Saturday in the ninth round of La Liga.
One goal and one assist. The raw numbers don't come close to capturing what the player of Moroccan origin meant to Barcelona in that match.
Real Betis shut the door in the first half. Barcelona couldn't find a way through at all, and it took a corner for Spanish midfielder Rodrigo to nod in the second goal.
That makes the first goal all the more striking. Lamine Yamal conjured it himself, a fierce effort from outside the box that pierced every defensive line Betis had built.
Betis came out hunting an equaliser after the break. Lamine duly teed up a third for Brazilian forward Gabriel Jesus.
Referee Ricardo de Burgos chalked it off for offside. Yamal shrugged and made another one for the Brazilian.
Manuel Pellegrini's side did strike again straight afterwards. But thanks to Yamal's magic, their goal only narrowed the gap rather than squaring it.
Yamal ran the show, and Barcelona duly collected a win at Real Betis that has become routine in recent years.
Nine of the last 10 meetings at the Andalusian side's stadium in La Liga have gone Barcelona's way. The other finished level. Betis have not won one of them.
Their last league victory over Barcelona at the Benito Villamarin came 18 years ago, a 3-2 win back in March 2008.
For traditional rivals Real Madrid, the ground has become a nightmare of its own. They haven't won there in five years.
Since that 1-0 success in August 2021, Madrid have made five trips to Betis. Three draws, two defeats, the latest of them this season.
Yamal dragged Barcelona to a big win over a defensively solid Real Betis, and the performance begs a question about Kylian Mbappe: why can't the Frenchman do the same for Real Madrid?
Today's match answered it. Yamal waited for nobody. Tight spaces, a well-drilled Betis defence, and the teenager simply took matters into his own hands.
He played rescuer himself, opening the scoring with a long-range strike that needed no proximity to goal whatsoever.
Nor did the Spaniard stop there. He carved out chance after chance for team-mates in the half-spaces, and sharper finishing would have brought him more than just the assist for Gabriel Jesus' goal.
Mbappe, by contrast, looks powerless when the pitch shrinks. His gifts don't help him beat a man in a phone box, and he doesn't supply the magical through balls Lamine threads at will.
Take away the supply line, whether that's Arda Guler or Vinicius Junior on his day, and the Frenchman cannot get near goal at all.
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The numbers back it up. Lamine Yamal was the best player on the pitch between Barcelona and Real Betis, and his magical touches told the story.
SofaScore handed Yamal the highest rating in the match on 8.7, ahead of team-mates Rodrygo (8.5) and Pau Cubarsi (8.3).
In 70 minutes, the winger scored a goal and had four shots: two on target, one off, one blocked.
He also grabbed an assist, carved out two clear-cut chances and completed 21 of his 32 passes, a success rate of 66%.
His dribbling is where it gets ridiculous. Yamal attempted eight and completed six, a 75% return that lays bare just what the Spaniard can do with a ball at his feet.
