THe was a student who surpassed his teacher. Lamine Yamal produced a masterpiece at the Spotify Camp Nou, scoring three goals in Barcelona’s 4-1 victory over Villarreal, with Robert Lewandowski scoring the winning goal of the match.
Pape Gueye opened the scoring for the visitors, but there was no stopping the young Rose star. In fact, after this feat, Ramin became the third-youngest player in history to score his first hat-trick. Where do Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo rank?
Yamal makes history against Villarreal
Lamine scored the first half against Yellow Submarine with two assists from Fermun Lupez in the 28th and 37th minutes. The number 10 completed his first career hat-trick in the 69th minute with an assist from Pedri González.
According to Planet Football, Yamal became the third youngest player to achieve this feat at 18 years, 7 months and 15 days, but the first after the war.
Jos Iragori (Athletic Bilbao) became the youngest player to score three goals in one match in 1930, at the age of 17 years and 337 days. In second place was Pablo Pombo (Racing de Santander), who achieved the same record in 1934 at the age of 18 years and 200 days.
Two years, nine months and 30 days after his debut, Yamal has surpassed Barcelona’s idol Lionel Messi, who scored his first hat-trick in a 3-3 win against Real Madrid in 2007, at 19 years, eight months and 14 days. But that’s not the end.
Lamine left Cristiano Ronaldo behind with three goals. The Portuguese player scored his first three goals in a single game during his first spell at Manchester United in 2008, in a 6-0 win against Newcastle United.
Meanwhile, the young Spanish starlet has scored 43 goals and provided 48 assists in 140 games for Rose. In doing so, he reached 100 goals faster than Leo and CR7. Both stars were 21 years old when they achieved this milestone.
It remains to be seen whether Yamal will surpass Leo’s 896 goals or Cristiano’s 960 goals.
Barcelona, led by Yamal, are currently preparing to bounce back from their crushing defeat against Atltico Madrid (4-0) in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final held at the Metropolitano. The rematch will take place next Tuesday, March 2, in a match that will thrill the Spotify Camp Nou.
