Lamine Yamal, self-expression and the corner-flag debate
It was a moment both chilling and thrilling. Lamine Yamal could have taken the ball down to the corner flag as the clock ticked past 90 minutes, protecting Barcelona’s 3-2 lead and inching them closer to the Champions League final. Running down the clock would have been the professional, sensible, joyless thing to do. Yamal didn’t hesitate. He went for goal.
Many moments shaped the unforgettable Inter Milan-Barcelona semi-final of 2025. Yamal’s choice in the 92nd minute of the second leg was arguably the most defining. You know what happened next. The teenager’s shot cannoned off the base of Yann Sommer’s left-hand post, Inter broke and Francesco Acerbi equalised. Extra time beckoned, Davide Frattesi won it, went full Marco Tardelli and the rest is hysteria.
Shortly after the final whistle Yamal posted a mournful, one-word message - “Sorry” accompanied by a broken heart emoji. Amongst the 5m+ views and almost 250,000 likes were 11,000 replies. Some were critical, one even suggesting Yamal should play safe from now on. Nonsense. Yamal is loved because he doesn’t play safe. Football is special when players and teams don’t play safe. So Yamal, this flowing bundle of talent and invention, went for it.