Flick: Lamine Yamal 'Deserves' Ballon d'Or After Five-Goal Barcelona Win

Lamine Yamal recorded his 101st career goal contribution for Barcelona during a 5-1 Champions League win against Feyenoord on Wednesday.

Barcelona defeated Feyenoord 5-1 at a rainy Spotify Camp Nou to open their Champions League campaign, led by a two-goal performance from captain Raphinha. The Brazilian scored the first and third goals of the match, becoming the first Barça player since 1950 to score in five consecutive opening fixtures. Summer signings Karim Adeyemi and Gabriel Jesus also found the net, while Lamine Yamal scored his fifth goal of the season via a free kick. Pedri provided the assist for Raphinha's second strike as the team reached 22 total goals through five matches this season.

Following the victory, coach Hansi Flick stated that 19-year-old Yamal deserves to win the Ballon d'Or. The winger, who was named to the 30-player shortlist on Monday, provided two assists against Feyenoord to reach 101 career goal contributions (54 goals, 47 assists) in 19 years and 58 days. His goal was his 12th in the Champions League, leaving him one short of Kylian Mbappé's record for the most goals scored by a teenager in the competition. The Ballon d'Or winner will be announced in London on Oct. 26, with Yamal competing against Mbappé, Harry Kane, and Ousmane Dembélé.

Flick expressed surprise that teammates Pedri and Raphinha were excluded from the award shortlist, describing them as fantastic players who deserved inclusion. Despite the 5-1 result, Flick noted there are still situations where the team must improve as they seek their first European trophy since 2015. Barcelona has now scored five goals in four of their first five games of the current campaign.