Lamine Yamal: Inter Milan plan to 'put pressure' on Barcelona superstar in return leg at San Siro - 'He is definitely the future of world football'
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Updated 04/05/2025 at 09:44 GMT+1
Lamine Yamal put in a standout performance in a UEFA Champions League semi-final for the ages when Barcelona and Inter played out a 3-3 draw in the first leg. The Italian champions prepared for the return tie with a 1-0 win over Hellas Verona, after which assistant coach Massimiliano Farris described Yamal as "the future of world football." Inter's coaching team are now planning how to stop him.
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Lamine Yamal was branded "the future of world football" by Inter assistant coach Massimiliano Farris, who revealed the Italian champions are concocting a plan to "put pressure" on the Barcelona superstar.
The two teams played out a UEFA Champions League classic in the first leg of their semi-final meeting last week in Catalonia.
Yamal was in dazzling form in a 3-3 thriller, scoring a jaw-dropping opener and terrorising Inter’s left flank throughout the first half to help the hosts recover from two goals down.
Inter wing-back Federico Dimarco had a torrid night trying to mark the 17-year-old before being replaced by Carlos Augusto in the second half.
Farris, standing in for the suspended Simone Inzaghi as a second-string Inter side toiled to a 1-0 win over Hellas Verona in Serie A on Saturday night, revealed that the coaching team have been putting their heads together to figure out how to dampen the Yamal threat.
"We are rewatching the game, and we will study it, we will try to limit him," Farris said.
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"It must be said that he did some things that were on another level. Maybe he won’t manage to have the same kind of game again.
"You certainly can’t say that we left him with too much space. He can find space where there isn’t any, he’s very young and has great quality.
"He is definitely the future of world football; we will come up with a plan to put pressure on him."
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Lautaro chances ‘more no than yes’
Inter’s task in the first leg was made harder when captain and star striker Lautaro Martinez limped off midway through the match.
The Nerazzurri still provided plenty of attacking threat, with Denzel Dumfries scoring twice after setting up a dazzling Marcus Thuram goal in the opening minute, while Henrikh Mkhitaryan was denied the winner after being caught millimetres offside.
Martinez now faces a race to be fit in time for the second leg on Tuesday night, as Farris admitted the odds of seeing the Argentina star on the pitch are not good.
"It’s true that it is not a muscle tear, so there is some hope," he said.
"But at the moment it is more no than yes, because he has not been able to train. We will do everything, but for now it is more no than yes."
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Inter made 10 changes to their side for the visit of Verona on Saturday, with one eye clearly on the upcoming Barcelona second leg at San Siro.
The gamble paid off as an early Kristjan Asllani penalty was enough to seal a scrappy 1-0 win that maintained their three-point gap to Serie A leaders Napoli.
Antonio Conte’s side also secured a 1-0 win on Sunday, defeating Lecce, to take another step towards an extraordinary title win with three games to go.
"Unfortunately, it does not depend on us," Farris said of the title race.
"We have a duty to win from now until the end so that we don’t have any regrets. If Napoli slip up, we must be ready.
"For now, we take a break from the league and will think about the game on Tuesday, where a legendary final is at stake.
"We will see what happens with Barca, then we will also try in the league."
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