After scoring his third goal, Lamine Yamal went to find the nearest camera, counted to three with his fingers and put them in an imaginary pocket.
It is easy to forget his age. He moves like a veteran (and a good one), but when the camera zooms in on him, you realise that while he no longer wears braces, and there is the start of a beard, he is still only 18 years old.
The first hat-trick of his professional career was not just any hat-trick. At 18 years and 230 days, he became the youngest Barcelona player to score three goals in a La Liga match, surpassing Giovani at 19 years and six days and Lionel Messi at 19 years and 259 days. It had been 59 years since a player under the age of 19 had scored a hat-trick in this competition.
When the match ended, the striker grabbed the matchball and went straight to the stands where his mother, Sheila Ebana, was waiting for him to celebrate.
Yamal was key to the 4-1 win over Villarreal. It also brought a positive feeling to the club as Barca look to do the almost-impossible next week by overturning a 4-0 deficit against Atletico Madrid in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Barcelona struggled to find the net in the first 28 minutes of the game at Camp Nou, but then Fermin Lopez took advantage of Villarreal losing possession in midfield, broke free, looked up, saw Yamal in space, and played a lethal pass to the Spaniard…
Yamal took a touch with the outside of his left foot, taking him into the area where he faced Villarreal goalkeeper Luiz Junior.
Just before a defender slid in to challenge, he calmly placed the ball beyond Junior into the corner to put Barca ahead.
The second goal could be hung in the museum of best goals, if such a thing existed. It came ten minutes later.
Lopez sent Yamal another ball out wide where he was positioned on the sideline. Then came the individual skill…
When Sergi Cardona approached him, he dribbled past him with a subtle touch with the outside of his boot, evading his challenge…
Then Alberto Moleiro came at him, but Yamal dribbled past him too as Moleiro tried to avoid giving away a penalty…
Finally, Pape Gueye tried to stop him, but Yamal already had his mind made up…
He had charged his left leg to score a great goal. A perfect finish ended up in the top corner, impossible to save.
The third came in the second half. It was the 69th minute and Villarreal had closed the gap to 2-1.
Pedri played a brilliant line-cutting pass through to Yamal, taking several Villarreal players out the game…
Yamal calmly faced up to goalkeeper Junior…
… and clipped it past the goalkeeper to seal his hat-trick and put Barca 3-1 up.
Four minutes later, head coach Hansi Flick substituted Yamal to save him for the match against Atletico and to allow the crowd to give him a standing ovation.
Yamal is back to his best. It has not been an easy year for him. Since September, he has been struggling with groin problems that have kept him off the pitch. This, added to the external noise and controversy surrounding his every move, has meant he has been constantly in the spotlight.
First, it was his 18th birthday party, then his relationship with Argentine singer Nicki Nicole, the LeBron James celebration with a crown, and there was also a dispute between Barcelona and the Spanish national team over the management of his physical discomfort and injuries, his statements against Real Madrid on Gerard Pique’s Kings League programme… a lot of external noise for a footballer who, despite already being a celebrity, is still so young.
All of this may have impacted his performances, but something has changed recently. All the off-field noise has stopped and his performance has improved at the perfect moment: when the season gets serious.
That time of year has come for Yamal. And he arrives at his best.
“It was a mixture of everything. I wasn’t feeling well myself, plus the groin pain… I wasn’t happy playing and I think it showed,” he told Movistar after the match. “For the past week, I’ve been feeling much better. I feel like smiling while I play, which I hadn’t felt in a long time, and now I’m happy. I’m happy playing.”
He has already scored 18 goals this season, the same number he scored in the whole of last season and is Barca’s top scorer in La Liga with 13.
Lamine Yamal scored his first professional hat trick today.
A reminder that he’s currently fasting for Ramadan too 👏 pic.twitter.com/ipZUhsfJXd
— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) February 28, 2026
Despite all the noise, the club believes doubts over the footballer’s attitude are unfair and wrong. Several club sources, who wish to remain anonymous to protect their roles, explained to The Athletic that he is an excellent professional, to standards that normally are hard to see in players of his age.
“Among the most talented prospects the club has ever had, nobody has had the scrutiny and pressure Lamine is facing,” one executive source said. “When Messi had his age, he had just burst onto the scene and had other stars such as Ronaldinho or Samuel Eto’o who would take the blame when needed. Now, all eyes are on Lamine. For the good and the bad.”
The same sources highlight how committed Yamal has been to recovering from his groin injury. He has been spending extra hours at the club, most weeks every day and outside training hours, to undergo treatment with the club staff and keep improving. And he has done so diligently without missing a session.
“People want me to score 100 goals at the age of 16… (smiles) I’d like to, but it’s very difficult,” he told Movistar after the match.
“When he enjoys playing football, it’s perfect for him and for us,” Flick said at the press conference. “The opponents sometimes play with two or three players against him, and Lamine could feel that he lacked confidence or momentum in these one-on-one situations. Today I’m really happy with what happened, and we need to give him confidence.”
Lamine Yamal is back at his peak just in time for the decisive stretch of the season. All we have to do is sit back, grab some popcorn, and enjoy what he has to offer.