Italian football icon Fabio Capello cautioned against expecting FC Barcelona rising star Lamine Yamal to reach the level of “genius” embodied by Lionel Messi, his esteemed La Masia predecessor.
Last summer, comparisons between Lamine and Messi gained traction, particularly after the 16-year-old’s standout performance against Tottenham Hotspur in the Joan Gamper Trophy match, a spectacle reminiscent of Messi’s own dazzling debut against Juventus in 2005. Capello himself humorously inquired about Messi’s availability for loan during his early days at Barcelona, only to be met with amusement from then-coach Frank Rijkaard.
Reflecting on this anecdote, Capello shared the memory while attending the Laureus Awards in Madrid on Monday evening.
“I discovered Messi at the Gamper and 20-25 minutes into the game I approached Rijkaard and asked him to loan him to me that season. He was a genius.
“Lamine has a lot of quality and is very interesting, but he won’t be a genius. Messi, Pele and Maradona were the geniuses. [Cristiano] Ronaldo is very close there,” the ex-Juve, AC Milan and Real Madrid tactician added.
“Cristiano is a great player, a great goalscorer, he won titles and the Ballon d’Or, but he hasn’t been great like Messi. He’s a great footballer, but he’s not a genius,” Capello stressed.
As an ex-leader of Los Blancos that contested the world’s biggest derby a few times himself, Capello rhetorically asked: “Speaking of Spanish football and the Clasico: How is it possible that it doesn’t have goal line technology?”
The comparison gained further attention when Lamine’s goal against Barcelona’s arch-rivals was controversially disallowed, prompting goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to label it an “embarrassment” during a match where the goal could have shifted the outcome significantly.
On Monday, Barcelona’s president Joan Laporta referred to the disputed goal as a “phantom goal,” revealing the club’s intention to request a replay of the match, which played a pivotal role in determining the La Liga title race, given the significance of Jude Bellingham’s late winner for the home team at the Bernabeu.
