Barca hopeful of Champions League resurgence under Lamine Yamal's reign

The club is determined to claw their way back into the European elite after years of struggle, and with a promising beginning under new coach Hansi Flick, their aspirations are looking up.

Flick’s Barcelona have five wins from five in La Liga and have Spain’s teenage Euro 2024 star Lamine Yamal playing a decisive role in their attack.

The winger has developed at an alarming rate since making his Barcelona debut aged just 15 in April 2023.

Now 17, Yamal struck twice as Barcelona thrashed Girona 4-1 in the league on Sept 15.

“Lamine is a difference-maker... for me, he is already one of the best players in the world at 17 years of age,” said admiring Girona coach Michel Sanchez.

“It is difficult to imagine that after (Lionel) Messi another one would come along, but I hope that Lamine keeps improving because he’s a player that can reach that level.”

Even though comparisons to eight-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi – Barcelona’s best-ever player – pile pressure on Yamal, they keep flooding in.

He already has three goals and four assists this season, well on the way of matching his tally of 12 goal contributions last term.

Barcelona are still stricken by economic difficulties, signing only Dani Olmo from RB Leipzig this summer and struggling for a few weeks to register him with La Liga, but they have an immediate superstar in Yamal.

The team will welcome Bayern Munich to their temporary Olympic Stadium home and travel to face last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund in the pick of their group-stage fixtures.

First up, though, they have to travel to face Monaco, who scored a shock 3-0 win in a pre-season friendly.

That is long forgotten now with the Catalans raising their game several levels in the weeks since and showing the sort of swagger that helped them win La Liga in 2023.

“I think you can see the confidence we have, and when we have the ball, we have the quality to play and to create chances,” said Flick after the destruction of Girona.

The game brought one piece of bad news as Olmo suffered a hamstring injury which rules him out for around a month.

Flick may be forced to move winger Raphinha back into a central role against Monaco, the position in which he started the season before Olmo was registered.

Despite the injury, with veteran striker Robert Lewandowski in strong form and Yamal’s star continuing to rise, Barcelona are ready to show they have recovered European powerhouse status. AFP