Lamine Yamal omits triple Champions League winner from Barcelona dream team

Lamine Yamal is ready to hit the ground running for Barcelona in the 2025/26 season.

The club have celebrated his 18th birthday in style as he prepares to lead Hansi Flick attack once again on the back of a trophy treble in 2024/25.

Flick secured the La Liga trophy, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup alongside four wins from four in his debut campaign El Clasico meetings with arch rivals Real Madrid.

He ended the campaign with 18 goals scored across all competitions – alongside 21 assists – with 13 in La Liga alone as the No.1 in that metric.

His place in Hansi Flick’s Barcelona plan is rock solid – on the back of signing a contract extension until 2031 – despite ongoing transfer links to Marcus Rashford and Luis Diaz.

As part of his birthday celebrations, Lamine Yamal has also named his all-time Barcelona best XI, as part of an interview with the club.

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He opted against including any of his current teammates, as a nod of respect to Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering 2008-2012 team, but there was a few notable absentees from his selection.

Lamine Yamal names all-time Barcelona XIThe teenager was firm in his picks, going for a 3-4-3 hybrid formation, to include as many star names as possible.

First up was Victor Valdes as goalkeeper, who made over 500 appearances from the club from 2004 to 2012, as first choice in that Guardiola team.

“In my mind, he’s the most historic goalkeeper we’ve ever had. He’s the one I’ve seen the most,” he said.

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In defence, again it was a mix of Guardiola’s main men, with former captain Carles Puyol alongside Gerard Pique and Inter Miami boss Javier Mascherano.

The engine room of Xavi Hernandez, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Busquets is unquestioned – but Lamine Yamal was determined to drop Ronaldinho into his reshaped ‘midfield’.

“I already know who I’m going to put up front, and there’s no room for him there!”

Lionel Messi is the other obvious selection, alongside Neymar Jr, and Lamine Yamal reserved special praise for Luis Suarez in the No.9 role.

“For me, Luis Suarez is top of the striker list!”

There are plenty of names missing from Lamine Yamal’s list – particularly as the XI is based around his age and Guardiola’s dominance – and 43-title winner Dani Alves did not get a place – despite winning six La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions League crowns in Catalonia.

Lamine Yamal and the rest of the Barcelona squad are now back in preseason training and are due to fly to Japan next week for a summer tour.

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