Inter legend Ivan Zamorano highlights 2 things Serie A giants must do to stop Lamine Yamal during second leg vs Barcelona
Ex-Inter Milan player Ivan Zamorano has pinpointed two key strategies that his former side must implement to stop Lamine Yamal ahead of their UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg clash with Barcelona. The return leg will be played at San Siro today (May 6).
An entertaining first leg staged at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys ended in a gripping 3-3 draw. While neither side could secure a victory, Yamal stole the show on the night. The 17-year-old proved unplayable, mesmerizing Simeone Inzaghi’s men throughout the match, and capped off his brilliant performance with a Lionel Messi-esque goal.
Lamine Yamal’s stunning performance in the first leg has, of course, left the Nerazzurri thinking of how they can stop him tonight. In an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport, Zamorano admitted Yamal’s immense talent, saying, “there’s no way to stop him.” He then opined that the two ways to stop the Catalan club’s prodigy are to constantly close him down and cut off his supply.
He said via Football Italia:
“If a world-class player is on his day, there’s no way to stop him. You can try to limit him. I believe Inzaghi will find the correct answer. Two things come to mind: first, anticipation, Inter should not wait for him to receive the ball, it would be like giving him the first move. Second, they must limit those who provide him with the ball to reduce the number of his touches.”
Meanwhile, Inzaghi has revealed that Yamal will be double-marked in a bid to curtail the spaces he will get.
“We’ll have to do as we did in the first leg’’ – Alessandro Bastoni on how Inter Milan will stop Barcelona star Lamine Yamal
Among all Inter Milan players, defender Alessandro Bastoni will worry more about how to stop Lamine Yamal. The Italian, alongside Federico Dimarco, was tasked with the responsibility of marking the youngster in the first leg.
In the pre-match press conference on the second leg, Bastoni was asked about Inter's plan to stop Yamal from playing well and dominating the tie. Responding, he said (via OneFootball):
“We’ll have to do as we did in the first leg, double up on him and triple up on him without exaggerating, otherwise we’ll create too much space. Barcelona isn’t just Yamal, we have to work as a team otherwise individually we’ll struggle.”
He added that Lamine Yamal is the best player he’s faced:
“I think so, he’s the best player I’ve faced. I had already faced him with Spain and he was not at this level yet. I was impressed by the level he has reached, for his age and ability to create something on the pitch I think he is among the best.”
In the ongoing season, Yamal has made 39 goal contributions for Barcelona in 50 appearances across competitions.
