Yamal talks racism, Messi and his “row” with Busquets

Lamine Yamal was the focus of ‘Universo Valdano’ on Movistar Plus, aired this Friday 18, and he covered a lot more than just the Balón de Oro. The Barça winger delved into topics that range from everyday football realities to what makes the biggest matches special.

He was especially firm on racism. As he said, there are actions that are “fine”, but he believes decisions need to be “more serious” and the punishment should be handled differently—because a racist act can’t be tolerated when it’s seen everywhere and impacts “millions of kids”. Mundo Deportivo notes that he’s also suffered episodes of insults and dismissive comments.

Racism and punishment

During the show, Yamal argued that it’s not enough to act: when racist behaviour happens, the response has to be the right one, stressing that it affects children.

Messi, Clásics and Europe

On Messi, he highlighted the World Cup run and insisted that, for him, Messi was the tournament’s best player—pointing to the way he showed up in the key moments. Regarding Real Madrid, he said he’d like to face them in the Champions League, and when talking about Clasicos he recalled a Rashford reference: his first match was still “not knowing” what a Clasico is, while the return game made him understand after scoring a free-kick goal.

He also revealed a “row” involving Sergio Busquets. Yamal said that after being suspended with the national team for three weeks for childish mistakes, Busquets pulled him aside after training and asked what he’d done—leading to a shock reaction from Yamal, before Busquets told him that at Barça everyone knows who you are and you have to behave.

Finally, he assessed Barça’s European challenges: he suggested the team struggles more against physically strong sides such as Bayern or PSG, while Arsenal seems more tactical, focused on possession. He also pointed to PSG as a favorite but warned how hard it is to win again after winning—fearing complacency. All of this was reported by Mundo Deportivo.