Barcelona star and Spain international Lamine Yamal has kept up his exceptional goalscoring run in recent matches, just as the race for the Ballon d'Or hots up. He is chasing it with real confidence. Not begging for it but demanding it. "I deserve it," he told the programme "Universo Valdano."
The teenager has become the first player in the Catalan ranks to score braces in three consecutive La Liga matches, against Rayo Vallecano, Valencia and Levante. That makes him the first to manage the feat since Lionel Messi in April 2017 and Robert Lewandowski in October 2024.
Add a direct free-kick against Feyenoord and Yamal's total climbs to seven goals in four matches. It's an almost unprecedented rate for the number 10, who looks determined to prove he doesn't merely unpick defences, create chances and thread decisive passes, but can also rack up stunning scoring figures.
According to the Spanish newspaper "AS," a quick glance at his record confirms the growth in his ability to find the net. Last year he managed just two goals in his first seven matches with Barcelona, at a time when he began to suffer with pubic pain.
His tally in the 2024-2025 season did not top three goals across the same period. Now he is doubling those numbers or beating them, a very rapid improvement in finishing off attacks.
Ball control and finishing in front of goal rank among the aspects he trains on daily, and he has given them gradually increasing attention. The same goes for free-kicks and penalties.
Yamal was no set-piece specialist. So much so that the penalty he missed against the Netherlands in the quarter-final of the 2025 UEFA Nations League got to him, though in official matches he has missed only one, against Girona, since his attempt against the Netherlands came in a shoot-out.
On free-kicks, Lamine trains regularly with Raphinha, Pedri, Olmo and Fermin once team training ends, on a path resembling that of Messi. The Argentine paid little attention to the skill in his early days before learning from two masters, Deco and Ronaldinho, and coming to realise that taking set-pieces is fundamental to boosting his scoring figures.
Lamine keeps shining as a creative force par excellence, relishing a successful dribble or a precise pass with the outside of his boot towards the runs of Raphinha, Gordon and Ademi. Yet he understands fully that the team, after the departures of Lewandowski and Ferran, badly needs a boost in its goalscoring figures.
Goals, the player also grasped, are a fundamental pillar in propping up his chances of winning the Ballon d'Or, for which he is competing strongly. The voting period closes after the England and Spain match at Wembley Stadium, an ideal stage to showcase his name and prove he is worthy of the title. Before that awaited encounter, the young forward plays two matches against Racing and Sevilla.
Speculation had pointed to his frustration or anger at himself and others after the World Cup. The teenager knocked all of it down a few days ago when asked about his serious demeanour during the Elche match: "I have had the best summer of my life and I am happy."
Signs of recovery and a strong return came during the match against Athletic Bilbao, and he has soared ever since. The Catalan club's management know just how much the young star attaches to the symbolism of the award, especially after he finished second only a year ago.
He was the best player in La Liga, decisive and hugely important at the World Cup even if he wasn't magical, and he led the side against Atletico Madrid despite going out in two matches the team finished a man down. On that basis Joan Laporta gave the green light to launch an official campaign for Lamine to win his first Ballon d'Or in London on 26 October, after all the institutions announced their support. And the player keeps shining like a killer goalscorer.
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