What were you doing at 18? Or, if you’re not yet 18, what do you plan to do? If the answer is anything other than "scoring a hat-trick for Barcelona" then prepare to feel a little bit jealous, because that’s exactly what Lamine Yamal was doing this weekend.
The Barça superstar fired three goals in their 4-1 win over Villarreal at Camp Nou on Saturday, making him the youngest player to score a hat-trick in La Liga this century. In this week’s SVQ, we’ll look at other teenagers to have claimed a match ball.
In the Premier League, there were plenty of goals on Matchday 28, with five of them coming at St. James’ Park as Everton beat Newcastle United. It was the latest impressive away showing from David Moyes’ side, and we’ll also dive into their form on the road.
Our quiz this week includes a question on your favourite topic and ours, corner kicks, while our Ask Opta question looks at a unique phenomenon that occurred on Sunday in the Premier League.
🔥 STAT - Teenage Trebles
It’s not exactly a revelatory to say Lamine Yamal is a very good footballer.
In fact, despite him being just 18 years and 230 days old at the time of Saturday’s game between Barcelona and Villarreal, Yamal feels like he’s been around for ages. It was therefore probably a surprise to many that his hat-trick in was the first of his La Liga career.
Yamal was electric against the Yellow Submarine, scoring Barça’s first three goals in their 4-1 win, with Robert Lewandowski capping it off in stoppage time at Camp Nou. The Spain youngster’s second goal in particular was a thing of beauty, cutting in off the right past several defenders before bending a fierce shot into the top-left corner of the net.
To add to the many accolades Yamal has already racked up despite barely being old enough to celebrate them with a beer (he probably didn’t, though), he became the youngest player this century to score a hat-trick in La Liga.
Another former Barcelona prodigy, Giovani dos Santos, scored his first at just 19 years and six days old back in May 2008 against Murcia, while Santi Mina was 19 years and 125 days old when he bagged a treble in the Spanish top flight for Celta Vigo against Rayo Vallecano in April 2015 – in fact, he actually scored four that day.
That therefore makes Yamal the only player under the age of 19 to score a hat-trick in La Liga since the turn of the century.
When expanded to the rest of Europe’s top five leagues in that time, though, he has some company.