Lamine Yamal: Winning the Ballon d'Or would be amazing... and these are Barcelona's Champions League rivals

Spanish international Lamine Yamal, first-team player for Barcelona, commented on his nomination for the 2025 Ballon d'Or and his ambitions with the Catalan club.

Lamine Yamal is among the nominees for the Ballon d'Or award, the winner of which will be announced on September 22, following his exceptional season with Barcelona in 2024-2025.

The Spanish player was handed the number 10 jersey this season and began taking penalties, which he commented on regarding his responsibility for this historic number at Barcelona.

Lamine Yamal: Winning the Ballon d'Or would be amazing

Lamine Yamal said in statements to the Spanish newspaper “Mundo Deportivo”: “It would be a dream, of course. The Ballon d'Or is one of the greatest awards a footballer can receive. I would celebrate it with my family and friends who have been by my side all along.”

He added: “Winning the Ballon d'Or at the age of eighteen would be incredible and amazing, but if it doesn’t happen now, I will continue to work on improving my performance every day.”

He continued: “I want to keep growing this season and help the team by scoring and creating goals, and competing for all titles.”

He stressed: “In professional football, it is very important to believe in yourself and have a strong personality. Always with humility, but knowing that your presence here means you have the ability to compete.”

He pointed out: “I developed this at La Masia academy, and they helped me and taught me how to prepare mentally. I also have specialists who help me; it’s essential.”

Lamine Yamal identifies Barcelona's rivals in the Champions League

When asked about the teams that can compete with Barcelona in the Champions League, Lamine replied: “Manchester City and Liverpool, as well as Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, and Paris Saint-Germain; they all always compete for the title.”

He added: “What we learned from the loss against Inter in the Champions League is that every mistake you make has a price. You have to be more consistent and never take anything for granted, because you will lose.”

In La Liga, Lamine commented on the reinforcements by Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid: “They are two very competitive teams, but I believe it depends on us. If we at Barcelona do our job well, it will depend on us to secure the title.”

Number 10 and taking penalties at Barcelona

Lamine Yamal continued: “The number 10 shirt carries responsibility. I’ve always been associated with it. I like to be the one who takes responsibility, and I want to be ready for those important moments.”

He added: “Returning to Camp Nou is essential. I imagine it full of fans, and it will be a great stadium. I was very lucky to make my debut at Camp Nou before the renovation work began, and I think playing there again will give us a great advantage in the competition.”

He concluded: “I don’t set a single goal; I want to improve my numbers from last season, and the most important thing is to get three points in every match and win all games.”

It is worth noting that Barcelona, who were eliminated in the Champions League semi-finals, won all domestic trophies (League, Cup, Super Cup) last season.

This was thanks to the contributions of Lamine Yamal, who scored 18 goals and provided 25 assists in various competitions.