Lamine Yamal breaks Vini Jr record and shows there is still plenty more to offer Barcelona

Lamine Yamal continues to break records and establish himself as one of Barcelona’s leading figures in LaLiga. In Saturday’s 3-1 victory over Sevilla, the forward became the youngest player in the history of the Spanish top flight to reach 50 assists, across all competitions.

With two assists against Sevilla, both for Raphinha, the number 10 moved to 51 career assists at the age of 19 years and 68 days. He surpassed the previous record, held by Vinicius Junior, who reached the same milestone in 2023 under Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid, aged 22 years and 298 days, according to Opta.

Yamal needed 153 appearances for Barcelona to surpass the mark, averaging one assist every three matches. When Vinicius Jr reached 50 assists for Real Madrid, the number 7 was playing alongside Karim Benzema and Rodrygo in attack, before his partnership with Jude Bellingham and Kylian Mbappé. He had, however, already won the Champions League, a trophy Yamal is chasing this season.

In addition to reaching the milestone three years younger than Vinicius Jr, Yamal also needed fewer appearances. While the Spanish star has made 153 appearances for Barcelona so far, Vinicius Jr reached 50 assists after 220 matches, averaging 0.22 assists per game.

Lamine Yamal made his Barcelona debut younger than Vinicius Jr

Yamal’s record, as well as his performances, can also be explained by his early introduction to senior football in Spain. Developed through Barcelona’s academy, he made his first-team debut for the club at the age of 15 years, nine months and 16 days in April 2023. He was promoted to the senior side by then-manager Xavi Hernandez and has remained there ever since.

Vinicius Jr did not make his Real Madrid debut until after reaching adulthood, despite having been signed from Flamengo in May 2017, aged 16 at the time of the agreement. The forward continued his development with the Brazilian club before moving to the Spanish capital.

He made his debut for Los Blancos under Julen Lopetegui, but played only limited minutes under the manager during the 2018/19 season before the arrival of Zinedine Zidane. There is also a three-year gap between Yamal’s debut and that of Vinicius Jr. Before the French manager took charge of Real Madrid, Vinícius had made just 14 minutes of appearances for the club.

“He was going through a period of adaptation. To develop in any profession, the factor of time is very important. Coming from another country and another culture, it was good for him to train every day and be around the other players. Everything would happen in its own time,” Lopetegui said at the time, after being dismissed by Real Madrid.

Since then, Vinicius Jr has won the Champions League twice with Real Madrid, LaLiga three times and the Club World Cup three times. In 2024, one year after setting the assist record, he was named the world’s best player at FIFA’s The Best awards and finished second in the Ballon d’Or, awarded by France Football.

© Iconsport / Marca

Yamal enters the Ballon d’Or race this season

Yamal is not only one of the players making headlines after the latest LaLiga record, but is also among the contenders for the Ballon d’Or this season. Last year, the Barcelona forward finished second in the award, which was won by Paris Saint-Germain’s Ousmane Dembele. This season, under Hansi Flick, he has once again stood out in Barcelona’s attack.

For the Catalan club, Yamal has made 45 appearances, scoring 24 goals and providing 18 assists. He was also one of Luis de la Fuente’s regular starters as Spain won their second consecutive World Cup title in the United States. Although his numbers at the tournament were not particularly impressive, with only one goal during Spain’s campaign, he remains firmly in the Ballon d’Or conversation.

In 2026/27, the forward has already produced impressive numbers for Barcelona. He has scored eight goals in eight matches, while also providing six assists. Alongside Raphinha, the captain of the Catalan side, the youngster is one of the main attacking references in Flick’s team.

Top of LaLiga, Barcelona will now wait for the international break to end before returning to action. Yamal and Raphinha, for example, are set to represent Spain and Brazil respectively over the coming weeks. Barcelona will return to action on 10 October against Getafe on the eighth matchday of the Spanish top flight.