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1 week ago
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Bukayo Saka says Lamine Yamal’s exploits are “not normal” for a 17-year-old, though insists helium volition not comparison himself to the Barcelona winger.
Yamal stole the amusement successful Wednesday’s 3-3 gully with Inter successful their Champions League semi-final archetypal leg, and Arsenal could conscionable Barcelona successful the last if they tin overturn a 1-0 decision against Paris Saint-Germain.
The Spain guardant levelled with a superb idiosyncratic portion of accomplishment against Inter, becoming the youngest-ever scorer successful the past 4 of UEFA’s apical nine competition.
That ascendant show successful Europe marked Yamal’s 100th quality for Barcelona crossed each competitions, with lone Jules Kounde (107) and Robert Lewandowski (104) playing much games for the nine since his debut successful April 2023.
“He’s top. Doing what he’s doing astatine his age, what tin you say, it’s unreal,” Saka told Sky Sports. “It’s not normal. No-one does it. I don’t deliberation I’ve seen that level of 17-year-olds, truthful recognition to him.”
Yamal is besides conscionable the 2nd teen to people successful the past 16, quarter-final and semi-final wrong a azygous Champions League campaign, aft Kylian Mbappe for Monaco successful 2016-17.
17 – At 17 years and 291 days, Lamine Yamal is the youngest subordinate to people successful a @ChampionsLeague semi-final, surpassing Kylian Mbappé successful 2017 (18 years and 140 days).
Leader. pic.twitter.com/TOR97CXBx3
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) April 30, 2025
The Barcelona winger’s record-breaking feat came aft Ousmane Dembele scored the lone extremity to spot PSG past Arsenal astatine the Emirates Stadium successful their semi-final archetypal leg.
Among players successful the large 5 European leagues, lone Robert Lewandowski (40), Harry Kane (36) and Mbappe (34) person scored much goals successful each competitions this play than Dembele’s 33.
Saka refused to comparison himself to either of those, however.
“There are rather a fewer top, apical wingers, and they’re each antithetic with antithetic games,” helium added. “I person respect for them all. These guys are apical players and I don’t person a atrocious connection to accidental astir them.
“When they’re not playing against me, I emotion watching them play.
“I don’t similar to enactment myself successful these types of conversations, everyone has their ain opinion, radical volition enactment maine up determination oregon down there. It’s not successful my involvement to reason with them. I conscionable play my ain games and permission it to radical to person their ain opinions.”
Last clip we hosted the Cherries…
Saka, Trossard and Rice helped america to each 3 points successful N5 pic.twitter.com/7WiPxdk35M
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) May 3, 2025
Arsenal are retired of the Premier League rubric contention aft Liverpool were crowned arsenic champions with past Sunday’s 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham.
Mikel Arteta’s broadside big Bournemouth connected Saturday, aiming to widen their three-point pb implicit third-place Manchester City, earlier Wednesday’s sojourn to PSG for the 2nd leg.
“You can’t measure the play until it’s finished,” Saka added. “We’re disappointed the league has gone to Liverpool, and we cognize wherever we slipped up.
“The play isn’t over; [we person a] monolithic crippled adjacent week and the accidental to beryllium successful the Champions League final.
“We can’t deliberation astir that yet, though. We request to deliberation astir the semi-final to get there, Bournemouth archetypal and past to Paris adjacent week to crook it around.”
That is Saka’s superior concern, contempt his ain aspirations of claiming the Ballon d’Or, on with the likes of Dembele, Mohamed Salah and Yamal from his right-wing challengers.
“Of course, it’s a dream,” helium said. “I deliberation it’s a batch of players’ dreams. But similar I said, the lone happening you tin absorption connected close present is winning present [at Arsenal]. Everything other volition travel after.”
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