Lamine Yamal got the better of fellow Spain star Nico Williams when Barcelona beat Athletic Bilbao 2-1 Saturday in the players’ first matchup since the two young talents led their nation to European Championship glory.
Yamal opened the scoring before Robert Lewandowski provided the second goal to give Barcelona two wins in two games to start the Spanish league season.
The Barcelona teenager struck in the 24th minute with a curling shot that was reminiscent of Lionel Messi’s favorite moves. Yamal controlled a deflected ball, took two touches to skirt along the outside edge of the box before he found the angle to unleash a left-footed shot. The ball found the net after a deflection on Athletic player igo Lekue.
Yamal and Williams chatted before and after kickoff. Yamal would not reveal in a post-game interview what they talked about, saying we are just good friends.
But he did, perhaps half-jokingly, make a dig at his pal when he described his goal.
I saw that Nico, who is not very intense while defending, was coming and I found the space I needed to shoot, Yamal said.
Oihan Sancet equalized in the 42nd by converting a penalty kick after Barcelona’s Pau Cubars knocked down Alejandro Berenguer.
But Barcelona never let Williams get going in attack and kept up the pressure until Lewandowski reestablished the advantage. The Poland striker had already headed off the bar when he was set up by a passing move involving Raphinha and Pedri to score in the 75th.
Lewandowski had netted a brace of goals in Barcelona’s 2-1 win at Valencia in last week’s Spanish league opener.
Hansi Flick, making his home debut as Barcelona’s new coach, gave a second straight start to midfielder Marc Bernal, who along with Yamal and Cubars is 17 years old.
Barcelona was rumored to be interested in trying to sign Williams from the Basque club in this transfer window. Flick hugged Williams when the winger was substituted late in the game. The German coach said that he congratulated Williams for his performance at Euro 2024.
Athletic used its third-string goalkeeper, lex Padilla, from its youth squad, after minor injuries to Spain goalie Unai Simn and backup Julen Agirrezabala.
The two teams provided seven members of Spain’s Euro 2024 squad which won the continental title last month.
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First Published: Aug 25 2024 | 9:50 AM IS