Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe are already inseparable in any serious conversation about soccer’s present and future, but 2025 has delivered a striking new twist to that rivalry. While Mbappe continues to define eras with his explosiveness and end product, a teenager in Barcelona colors has quietly surged ahead in one of the game’s most demanding attacking metrics. Lionel Messi‘s successor in Catalonia, Yamal, has not only matched the elite—he has surpassed them at just 18, topping Mbappe in a decisive attacking feat that underlines how rapidly the balance of power is shifting.
At club level, Barcelona has entrusted Yamal with responsibility far beyond his age, and the reward has been extraordinary. Across the continent, few players have been as consistently daring, unpredictable, and effective with the ball at their feet. The numbers now confirm what defenders already feel: stopping Yamal one-on-one is becoming an impossible task.
The modern winger is expected to do everything—create, score, press, and stretch defenses. Yamal has embraced all of it. In just 13 league appearances, he has produced six goals and eight assists, a return that would be impressive for a seasoned star, let alone an 18-year-old navigating another full season at the top level.
What truly separates the Spaniard, however, is not simply output but how he generates it. His game is built on direct confrontation. Every match becomes a series of personal duels, and more often than not, Yamal emerges victorious. His acceleration, balance, and timing allow him to glide past defenders who know exactly what is coming—and still cannot stop it.
Those qualities have made him indispensable in the club’s attacking structure. Opponents double-team him, full-backs hesitate, and defensive lines retreat deeper than planned. That alone reshapes matches.
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The stats that put him ahead of Mbappe
According to Squawka, Yamal leads Europe’s top five leagues in successful one-on-one dribbles this season. He has completed 69 successful take-ons in La Liga, comfortably more than any other player across England, Spain, Italy, Germany, and France.
For context, Tottenham attacker Mohammed Kudus sits second with 48, while Kylian Mbappe ranks third with 47. Manchester City’s Jeremy Doku follows with 45, and RB Leipzig teenager Yvan Diomande rounds out the top five with 42.
This is not a marginal lead—it is dominance. Yamal is beating defenders at a rate that no one else in Europe can currently match, including Mbappe, who has long been regarded as the benchmark for devastating wide attackers.
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Lionel Messi-like numbers
Midway through the season, the full scope of Yamal’s achievement becomes clear. Over the last 12 months, the Barcelona winger has completed 285 successful dribbles across all competitions, the highest total recorded in Europe’s top leagues.
That number places him in rare historical territory. The last Barcelona player to post comparable figures was Lionel Messi, who recorded 297 successful dribbles in 2015. Even Mbappe, with 144 over the same period, sits far behind. The comparison is not meant to crown a successor—but it does underline the scale of what Yamal is doing. To approach Messi-era numbers at 18 is almost unheard of.
