MADRID, April 13 : Lamine Yamal insisted on Monday that Barcelona must not treat a Champions League fightback at Atletico Madrid as something that is insurmountable.
Barca travel to the Metropolitano on Tuesday trailing 2-0 from the first leg of their quarter-final, a deficit that leaves them staring at an exit from the competition unless they can conjure something extraordinary away from home.
“We mustn’t think of a comeback as a miracle,” Yamal told a press conference.
“I’ve been lucky enough that, ever since I was a child, I’ve had to take on more responsibility than I should have. I’m used to it.
“I just focus on enjoying it, on not seeing it as a problem, but as a strength. I’m grateful for everything that’s happening to me.”
More than half of the side set to step out in Madrid emerged from La Masia, Barcelona’s youth academy, with 18-year-old Yamal widely viewed as the most dazzling product since Lionel Messi.
He burst onto the international stage by helping Spain win the 2024 European Championship and finished second in the 2025 Ballon d’Or vote.
“It’s very important to have lots of La Masia players on the pitch for matches like tomorrow’s. We’re all home-grown, we all love Barca. We know what a moment like this means. We’ll give it our all right to the end,” he said.
History offers slim comfort. Only once in the Champions League has a team overturned a 2-0 first-leg home defeat, when Manchester United beat Paris St Germain 3-1 in Paris in 2019.
Barcelona themselves have managed just one greater escape in knockout competition, erasing a 4-0 loss to PSG with a 6-1 victory at Camp Nou in the 2016-17 last 16.
The task looks even steeper given recent history. Last month Barca were knocked out of the Copa del Rey semi-finals by Atletico after losing 4-0 in the first leg at the Metropolitano.
A 3-0 win in the return proved insufficient, sending Atletico into Saturday’s final against Real Sociedad.
Yamal, however, is adamant Barcelona will not give up without a fight.
“We promise that, if we’re knocked out, we’ll fight right to the end. We’ll give our all for this badge. It’ll be a match lasting 90 minutes or more; this isn’t over yet. A comeback is very much possible, which is why we’re here,” Yamal said.
