Few players have reached the biggest stage in European football as quickly as Lamine Yamal. At an age when most footballers are still looking for their place in a first team, the Barcelona winger keeps adding milestones to a résumé that already looks like that of a veteran, and his latest one came in a match that started with a bang at Spotify Camp Nou.
Yamal scored in the seventh minute to put Barcelona ahead 1-0 against Aston Villa in Matchday 4 of the Champions League, after a mistake in Villa’s build-up under Barcelona’s high press.
With that goal, Yamal reached 14 in the Champions League at the age of 19 years and 113 days, according to the statistician MisterChip, making him the player with the most goals in the competition before turning 20, ahead of Kylian Mbappe, who scored 13, and Erling Haaland, with 10.
The list of players he leaves behind shows the scale of the record. Patrick Kluivert follows with seven goals, while Raul, Karim Benzema and Jude Bellingham are tied with six. Yamal still has time before his 20th birthday next July to extend the mark even further, and every new goal will make it harder for anyone to catch him.
Yamal vs Mbappe: Comparing their starts to the 2026-27 season
Both forwards are essential pieces of their teams, and that shows in their strong starts to the season. Mbappe is leading Real Madrid as the team’s top scorer, with 15 goals and three assists in 14 matches across LaLiga and the Champions League.
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Lamine Yamal reaches a milestone in Spanish football not seen since Lionel Messi in 2011
On the other side, young Barcelona forward Yamal has been decisive in his side’s attack. In addition to being the team’s second-highest scorer with 13 goals, he is the top assister with 11 assists in 15 matches.
Two different profiles, but the same impact: each has become the main reference of his team’s attack. While Mbappe sets the pace with his goals, Yamal combines finishing and creativity, and both keep adding numbers that put them among the best attackers in Europe this season.
