Yamal epitomised Barca’s youth policy by making his debut in April aged 15 years old.

Barcelona didn’t like the comparison of Lamine Yamal to Lionel Messi by Spain coach Luis de la Fuente as the Catalan side are trying not to put pressure on the 16-year-old.

Spain manager Luis de la Fuente selected Barcelona’s teenage winger Lamine Yamal again. The 16-year-old became Spain’s youngest ever player and goalscorer in September

The Spanish coach compared the young forward to Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona at the press conference following the squad list for the upcoming Euro qualifiers.

“He has fantastic potential, exceptional qualities. Remember when Maradona or Messi were 16, if we said they shouldn’t have played, now it would seem like sacrilege,” he told reporters.

However, this comparison seems not to have gone down well with Barcelona, who are trying not to put pressure on Yamal so that he can continue to develop his skills to the best of his ability.

In fact, Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez said at the pre-game press conference ahead of the Champions League match against Porto that they were “not doing him a favor” by having so many expectations on the 16-year-old.

“We are not doing Lamine any favors if we compare him with Messi. It is true that the expectations are enormous, he is proving it, but we are going to see the future. But we have already seen that all the players who have been compared to Messi, they haven’t done well at all,” he said.