Barcelona Don’t Fear Real Madrid Like Other Teams – Yamal

Barcelona’s young star Lamine Yamal has revealed that the club does not fear Real Madrid like other clubs after their fourth consecutive win over their rivals.

The La Liga leaders earned a 4-3 win over Carlo Ancelotti’s team at the Olympic Stadium, moving seven points clear of Madrid with just three matches to play.

Last season, Barcelona lost all three Clasico matches, but they have defeated Real Madrid four times this season, including in the Copa del Rey final in April.

Yamal, who scored the second goal in the encounter, revealed that Barcelona don’t fear Real Madrid like other teams do.

He said, “It doesn’t feel good when Madrid beats you. It’s true we didn’t beat them last year; we suffered, and this year we gave everything to turn it around.

“We don’t have that fear of them that maybe other teams have against them. So we gave it our all. We feel like we’re better than every other team; that’s the mentality we go out with.

“I think that’s how you have to play against them. You have to show up like you’re the better team and enjoy yourself; that’s it.”

Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick has showered praise on Lamine Yamal following his impressive performance against Real Madrid.

He said, “He’s not a kid. He’s doing good. He has the confidence, the self-confidence, and the belief in what he can do. Also, he’s very clever.

“He brought us back [into the match] today with his goal, a very important goal; at 17 years old, it’s really high quality. This is what we want from him.”

Barcelona recovered from a 2-0 deficit for the seventh time this season, but Flick refused to be carried away with the stat while demanding defensive improvement.

He said, “You [the media] can answer this,” the coach said when asked if Barça are the most entertaining team on the continent after their seventh comeback from two goals down this season.

“For me, it’s not always fun. Sometimes I really suffer a lot. I am happy with what we are doing. Football is a game of mistakes, so hopefully we can make these things better and make fewer mistakes.

“The mentality of my team is unbelievable,” Flick continued. “It’s great to see that they have the power to come back. It’s fantastic, but this journey we started last year is not over.

“We have to improve a lot. Also, the defence. Maybe it’s better that we’re more stable. But it’s not to do with the last four. When we make mistakes, Real have fantastic attackers; they transition well and attack the space behind our centre-backs.

“It’s not easy to defend that when we make mistakes. This is what we have to learn: to defend [better]. But to be honest, every three days a match, it’s not easy to train. It’s all about recovery.”

Yamal has enjoyed a prolific season for Barcelona this season with 16 goals and 24 assists in all competitions this season.

Barcelona will be crowned champions with a victory against Espanyol on Thursday.