BARCELONA
\nThere is much debate over who should win the Ballon d\u2019Or this year, but if Lamine Yamal\u2019s recent form continues over the season, handing out next year\u2019s award would be simple.
\nThe teenage winger was at his mesmerising best as Barcelona waltzed to a 4-1 win at Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday, to make it 10 victories from 10 matches this season across all competitions.
\nHansi Flick\u2019s irresistible side have scored 43 goals in that spell, including seven in the last two games, even without talisman Raphinha.
\nA sensational dribble from Yamal helped create a goal for Anthony Gordon in Istanbul, and the winger\u2019s inviting cross also carved out another for Fermin Lopez.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t know what to call it, it was an almost-rabona dribble,\u201d Yamal told Movistar.
\n\u201cIt came off well to set up Gordon, that\u2019s the main thing, that it was effective at the end of the day.\u201d
\nYamal had a moment of luck when the ball bounced off the defender back to him but showed excellent reflexes and speed to keep it in and find the former Newcastle winger.
\nThe 19-year-old was named player of the match and earned lavish praise from his coach after another performance in which his ability to beat defenders and generate danger proved decisive.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s amazing to have a player like him on this level. He changed the game for us and this was really good,\u201d Barca coach Flick told reporters.
\n\u201cIn the second half he was fantastic, how he dominated the game, the (final ball)\u2026 it\u2019s unbelievable what he\u2019s doing.\u201d
\nYamal has eight goals and nine assists in 10 games for Barcelona this season.
\nHowever, perhaps the most impressive aspect of Barcelona\u2019s start has been that their attacking brilliance has not depended on any one player.
\nRaphinha\u2019s absence has given former Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus an opportunity to step in successfully, while Karim Adeyemi has added goals and electric speed when needed to replace Gordon.
\nIn midfield, Flick can call on Gavi and Dani Olmo among others without his side losing its identity, while Dutchman Frenkie de Jong is soon to return from injury.
\nThat depth will become increasingly important as Barcelona enter the most demanding part of their autumn.
\nCritics have pointed out that they have yet to face one of Europe\u2019s elite sides, with Galatasaray away arguably their toughest assignment so far.
\nThat argument will be tested this weekend as Barcelona face Manuel Pellegrini\u2019s high-flying Real Betis at La Cartuja.
\nThe Andalusian side are third in La Liga, five points behind Barca and one ahead of Real Madrid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BARCELONA There is much debate over who should win the Ballon d\u2019Or this year, but if Lamine Yamal\u2019s recent form continues over the season, handing out next year\u2019s award would be simple. The teenage winger was at his mesmerising best as Barcelona waltzed to a 4-1 win at Galatasaray in the Champions League on Tuesday, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":104465,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104475,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104453\/revisions\/104475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}