There was a tactical graphic on the pink pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport this week that depicted Lamine Yamal surrounded by three Inter players.
With it, swathes of print detailed the intricacies of the approach needed to combat the Barcelona star. The Italian media do strategy with as much gusto as their best defenders once did marking. The headline cut through the minutiae – ‘Inter’s plan for Yamal… cage, sprint and patience’.
It all looked so easy on paper, Inter’s pink-print for success. Except, when Yamal escapes the cage and runs faster than you, patience soon makes way for panic.
And Inter, you suspect, are scared of this ’17-year-old veteran’, dubbed so after his man-of-the-match performance during the first leg 3-3 draw. That, remarkably, was his 100th appearance for the club.
There was a lighter moment at the Nerazzurri’s training ground on Monday when head coach Simone Inzaghi, in all seriousness, spoke of potentially starting with two recognised full-backs, in Federico DiMarco and Carlos Augusto, in opposition to Yamal on Barcelona’s right.
‘Does that mean I’m out?’ said Alessandro Bastoni, the left-sided centre-back, sitting next to his boss.
Lamine Yamal is hungry to tear apart Inter Milan – but they’re preparing a firewall to stop him
The 17-year-old has already played 101 times for Barcelona and at his best is unstoppable
But Inter’s best form of defence may well be attack against a sometimes fragile Barca backline
It all felt a little like nervous laughter. That is what the boy has done to Inter’s men. As much as there is respect for the likes of Raphinha, Pedri and Dani Olmo, none of them have been afforded such attention in recent days, and nor will they be on Tuesday evening.
During Monday night’s press conference at the San Siro, Olmo was asked by a Spanish reporter what he thought of Yamal being marked by two Inter players. Read the paper, pal, it’s three!
‘That means we will have one free player,’ said the attacking midfielder, sounding like he was ready to profit. ‘Anyway, Yamal shows he is good against one, two or three. He wants to prove why everyone keeps saying he is the best in the world.’
Outside, the Milanese skies were a foreboding black and rainwater soon slalomed, much like Yamal, through pockmarked pavements. Nothing, however, could dampen the sense of anticipation here.
This city is at Champions League saturation point. Gazzetta had 11 pages of coverage before it began reflections on the Serie A weekend. Hotel prices near the historic Duomo read more like telephone numbers. TV stations are showing nothing but calcio – has Coronation Strada been postponed? While taxi journeys, for which a harness is advised, are to a soundtrack of frenzied radio debate, the subject unmistakable – Inzaghi, Martinez, Yamal!
And all of this is before we get to the mouth-watering second leg that awaits. It is not so much that the semi-final is delicately poised. There was nothing delicate about the first leg. Come the end, it was like two drunks trading blows in a tapas bar at 2am. Great entertainment, yes. Great defending, no.
But who cares? The fact this game will be more checkers than chess is part of the allure. Despite Gazzetta’s defensive dissertation, Inter’s best approach is to attack, as it was in Barcelona. The Spanish press captured better the spirit of that game when their headlines screamed: ‘Loco!’ No need for translation.
Barcelona’s high line was a high-wire act, and you lost count of how many times they were left clinging to the rope. Inter should have won. It was only because of one marginal offside, several episodes of errant finishing and an entire series of Yamal’s genius that they did not.
The city is saturated with Champions League fever – it’s hard to escape coverage of the game
Yamal is capable of breaking out of any cage set for him and leaving his markers in the dust
Hansi Flick referred to his young ‘veteran’ as a ‘genius,’ ‘unbelievable,’ and ‘beautiful’
Breaking momentarily from questions about Yamal, Barcelona boss Hansi Flick was probed on the danger of repeating the tactic that allowed Inter to break in behind at will. He’s an affable chap, Flick, but he did not like this.
‘From the outside, maybe it’s, “Wow, they (Inter) played really good”,’ said the German. ‘The reason is we didn’t have the right positions to press the right player. We have to correct some things.’
OK, back to Yamal.
‘Lamine is a genius,’ said Flick, giving the audience what they wanted. ‘What he’s doing with the ball is unbelievable. Every pass is with the right pressure and direction. In the first leg he brought us back into the game with his game. He is beautiful. But now he has to always show that.’
Moments later, as Barcelona trained on the San Siro pitch and the heavens opened, we got a glimpse of the teen with the world at his feet. He looked just as happy with a football.
He does not need the peroxide hair to stand out, either. There was one flick, in a rondo with Pedri and Frankie de Jong, that brought a smile to the face of his team-mates, as well as us journalists in the stand. My Italian colleagues looked a little more unsettled.
Their response has been to celebrate the fitness of Lautaro Martinez, the Argentine World Cup winner who was forced off at half-time last Wednesday. The front page of Gazzetta carried a picture of the striker, cupping his ears, with the bolded and inflated text: ‘Inter – here I am!’.
Martinez will have to be everywhere if Inter are to progress. Had he been on the pitch in the second half in Barcelona, as the home side lost their shape and, at times, their senses, Inter probably would have had a lead to protect this evening.
Yamal has drawn comparisons to Lionel Messi thanks to his exploits at just 17 years old
The teenager signed his first professional contract at Barcelona in October 2023 which included a €1bn release clause
In October, the winger was handed the Kopa Trophy (given at the Ballon d’Or ceremony for the best player under 21 in world football )
Yamal has become one of the most recognisable names in the sport and already boasts lucrative contacts
Not that a home advantage would have given us any clue as to how this game will play out. There was no rhyme or reason to much of the first leg – barring individual moments of inspiration – and the primitive premise of outscoring your opponent is to be savoured, even if the analysis here is more scientific.
Gazzetta’s thesis on dealing with Yamal concluded with a rallying cry. ’It’s about knowing how to broaden your gaze beyond Yamal’s fangs,’ they wrote. ‘Then, there’s enough to take down all of Barcelona, and run towards a great night in Munich’.
First, there is a great night to be enjoyed in Milan. And, in particular, a great player who could one day be the greatest.
