Lamine Yamal: Barcelona Not Here for a Stroll in Champions League

Lamine Yamal said Barcelona are "not here for a stroll" this season and want to bring the Champions League trophy back to the city. The winger made the comments in an interview with the programme ON Sport, as reported by Mundo Deportivo.

"Everything depends on destiny," Yamal said. "The Champions League is not decided in a single match; you can play badly and lose the title. So you need luck, along with experience, and these things build up year after year."

He went on: "I hope luck is on our side this year. We are playing to win the championship; we are not here for a stroll. We want to win and bring the trophy back to Barcelona, and God willing, we will win this year."

Barcelona began their European campaign with a 5-1 win over Feyenoord. Yamal set up Raphinha's opener that night, his 21st goal involvement in the competition, one more than Kylian Mbappé's teenage mark of 20.

On the Ballon d'Or, Yamal said: "Of course it is a possibility. We all play to get wins, whether collective or individual, such as the Ballon d'Or." Two weeks earlier he told Movistar+ that the race was between him and Mbappé. Spain coach Luis de la Fuente had backed him for the award on 11 September.

Yamal would not compare Robert Lewandowski with Raphinha, who has started the season at centre-forward and scored twice against Feyenoord. "I don't think it's a question of better or worse," he said. "The team adapts to several players, and each player has different strengths. Robert, for example, stands out for his ability to finish attacking moves, while Raphinha is a great passer. Each has his own strengths and abilities, and each player is distinguished by what he does."

Of Barcelona's start to the season he said: "We are going through a very good moment."

Read alongside the Movistar+ interview, this may mean Yamal has no plan to play down the Ballon d'Or talk as the season goes on.