FRANCE-SPAIN: CATALAN PRESS GETS EXCITED AFTER RABIOT’S STATEMENT ON YAMAL

For a short answer on Lamine Yamal at a press conference, Adrien Rabiot is on the front page of several Spanish sites, on the eve of the France-Spain semi-final at Euro 2024.

The semi-final is underway. Adrien Rabiot’s response to Lamine Yamal during his press conference on Monday on the eve of France-Spain has made the rounds of the Spanish media, who see it as a barely disguised warning to the young FC Barcelona winger.

Asked about the pressure that the young Lamine Yamal could feel before playing in a European Cup semi-final at 16 years old, the Juventus midfielder was nevertheless very complimentary : “We saw that he was a player who knew how to handle pressure very well. He has a lot of qualities. He is capable of playing with his qualities at club level as well as in major tournaments.”

“He will have to do much more than he has done so far.”

And Rabiot continued: “Afterwards it’s always complicated to manage a semi-final in a tournament like this, but it will be up to us to put the pressure on him above all, not to leave him in comfort and to show him that to play in a Euro final, he will have to do much more than what he has done up until now.” It is this last sentence that has inflamed the Spanish press, especially on the Catalan side, and who see it as a provocation towards the Barça player.

Mundo Deportivo, for example, headlines: “Rabiot’s warning to Lamine Yamal before Spain-France”, while Sport simply notes the French midfielder’s sentence and chooses to put this article at the top. The Madrid press prefers to note Rabiot’s sentence concerning Griezmann’s fitness.

Already a scorer in a France-Spain semi-final of a Euro

A little over a year ago, Lamine Yamal already faced France in the semi-final of a Euro, but with the Spanish U17s. The player who had not yet played a single minute with the professional squad of FC Barcelona, ​​had also scored a sublime goal to start the match. A year later, aged 16, he is preparing to face the France A team, with the big boys of La Roja.

Breaking all records for precocity during this Euro 2024, he will also become the youngest player to play in a semi-final of a European Championship if he plays against France on Tuesday. He has been one of Luis de la Fuente’s undisputed starters since the start of the tournament and is even in the ranking of Spanish players creating the most chances during a single Euro, behind Xavi in ​​2012 and Cesc Fabregas in 2008.