Kylian Mbappe vs Erling Haaland has been regarded as the next big thing in soccer after the Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi era. But slowly and steadily, Lamine Yamal is entering the conversation. Yamal has already earned a dime a dozen comparisons to Mbappe who represented France in the 2018 World Cup win. This discourse surrounding the 17-year-old peaked when he ousted France in the Euro semi-final with an out-of-the-box curler. Yet the French captain showed no sign of envy or frustration. Rather, he showered the Spanish teenager with the utmost respect.
A footage from the Spain-France semi-final showed Kylian Mbappe’s stunned reaction to Yamal’s long-range strike. It looked as if the French skipper had nobody to blame, but silently laud the teenager’s prowess. Well, Yamal’s recent revelation proves Mbappe was more than impressed with his heroics on the semi-final night. “Mbappe asked for my shirt after the match,” said the 17-year-old via Blaugrana on Instagram. It is unclear whether Mbappe directly asked the teenager for his shirt.
“The kit men tell me who wants it. If Mbappe asks me for it, I’ll give it to him. No problem. I don’t know what I have. When we won against France I was thinking about the final, you’re so excited that you don’t remember,” Lamine Yamal added. While it was commendable of a superstar such as Mbappe to show such humility to Yamal, the soccer world is seeing a potential rivalry brewing between the two. Enhancing the chances of this possible competition, Mbappe announced himself as a Real Madrid player.
Spanish League to boost El Clasico’s image with Lamine Yamal-Mbappe rivalry
The Real Madrid-Barcelona matches, dubbed El Clasico, had more hype than the Super Bowl when Cristiano Ronaldo was at Madrid and Lionel Messi was at Barca. After their departure, both Real and Barca still thrived and had the best teams at their disposal. But the two giants never had individual superstars who could replicate the Ronaldo-Messi rivalry. Now that Kylian Mbappe is a Madrid player, and Barca’s Lamine Yamal has shot to superstardom, La Liga president Javier Tebas sees huge PR potential in upcoming El Clasico matches, as per Sport.
Besides, stories have it that Adidas showed Yamal the personal message to him from Leo Messi and Mbappe. Since Yamal idolized Messi from childhood, his messages deeply moved him. Whereas the Frenchman’s message ignited competition within him. Surprisingly, Yamal overlooked the nine-year gap between him and Mbappe and declared the latter as his generational rival. Therefore, the coming El Clasicos will indeed be a treat on which Spanish soccer can capitalize. And it is high time for the next generation of soccer fans to cherish a rivalry that is reminiscent of the Messi-Ronaldo battles.