Barcelona ahead Lamine Yamal performed a vital function in his staff’s 3-2 victory over Borussia Dortmund within the UEFA Champions League, offering an help regardless of not scoring.
This introduced his complete to 2 assists within the competitors, a notable achievement for the younger star.
Nevertheless, regardless of his being named the Man of the Match, Yamal was surprisingly unnoticed of UEFA’s Champions League Staff of the Week.
As a substitute, UEFA’s technical observers selected to focus on the attacking trio of Igor Paixao from Feyenoord, Antoine Griezmann from Atletico Madrid, and Bukayo Saka from Arsenal.
Whereas these gamers all had sturdy performances, one can’t assist however surprise if UEFA locations extra worth on targets than different contributions to the sport.
Barcelona’s dangerous luck with UCL TOTW
It’s value noting that even when Yamal scored a purpose in a earlier match, he wasn’t included within the Staff of the Week, elevating questions concerning the choice standards.
🥁 Introducing your Staff of the Week! @cryptocom | #UCLTOTW pic.twitter.com/olJeuaEsMo
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) December 12, 2024
Barcelona’s illustration within the Champions League Staff of the Week has been fairly restricted. Out of the six matchdays performed thus far, the Blaugrana have solely had gamers featured on three events.
Raphinha made the reduce twice (on matchdays 2 and three), whereas Pau Cubarsi appeared as soon as (on matchday 5).
This lack of recognition has sparked some irony amongst followers, particularly contemplating that Yamal has been concerned in key moments, scoring a purpose and offering two assists within the group stage.
Trying on the Staff of the Week for this spherical, Saka’s inclusion was probably attributable to his exceptional efficiency, scoring twice and offering an help in Arsenal’s 3-0 win over Monaco.
Griezmann, who additionally scored two targets, and Paixao, who netted one, additional strengthened their instances for inclusion.
Regardless of his contributions, Yamal was not chosen, and no Barcelona participant featured within the staff this week. This highlights the continued debate about what standards are used to find out one of the best gamers of the week in such prestigious tournaments.