Lamine Yamal scored in each half as Barcelona beat Deportivo Alavés 6-1 at the Spotify Camp Nou on Saturday, in the 11th round of La Liga. The two goals lifted the Spain forward to 40 senior goals before his 20th birthday, according to LiveScore. That figure puts him level with Michael Owen and one behind Kylian Mbappé, whose 41 goals lead the list across Europe's top five leagues over the past 30 seasons, LiveScore reports.
Yamal does not turn 20 until next July, leaving him months of fixtures in which to pass the Real Madrid forward. LiveScore described the record as one Yamal is closing in on and suggested overtaking it is a matter of time.
Why it matters
The comparison places Yamal in a small group of players who scored at this rate while still teenagers in Europe's strongest leagues. Mbappé's total has stood as the benchmark for three decades of top-five-league football, and Yamal has drawn level with Owen with most of a season still to play before his birthday.
For Barcelona, the result carried weight beyond the record. The club went into the match after losing 4-2 to Paris Saint-Germain and 2-1 to Real Madrid, and the win steadied a side that had been under pressure. It also gave Hansi Flick his 100th win in official competitions as Barcelona coach, a milestone reached alongside 10 draws and 21 defeats, per LiveScore.
Barcelona back on top
The victory moved Barcelona to 30 points and first place in La Liga. They sit two points clear of second-placed Atlético Madrid and six ahead of third-placed Real Madrid, who were due to travel to Racing Santander on Sunday in the same round.
Yamal's brace was the headline individual contribution, but the six-goal display was the kind of response Flick needed after two defeats. Barcelona had been seeking to settle themselves, and a lopsided scoreline against Alavés delivered that in a single afternoon.
Flick's century of wins at the club now sits alongside a record that includes those 10 draws and 21 losses, a reminder of how much football the German has overseen since taking charge.
The record in context
LiveScore frames Mbappé's 41 goals as a "miraculous record," and the numbers behind it are unusual: it covers the last 30 seasons across Europe's five biggest leagues, a span long enough to include several generations of forwards. Yamal matching Owen at 40 shows how rare the territory is. Owen's total was itself a teenage achievement that few have approached.
Yamal's position is different from most of the names around him on that list because of his age. He has already played a significant role for Barcelona and Spain, and the goals against Alavés came in a league match rather than a friendly or a lower-level fixture. Each additional goal before July adds to a total that is already among the best recorded for a player of his age in the modern top-five-league era.
Mbappé, now at Real Madrid, remains the standard. The two players are also direct rivals in La Liga, which adds a layer to the chase: Barcelona's win kept them ahead of Mbappé's side in the table, and Yamal's individual pursuit is unfolding in the same competition.
What to watch
Yamal's next chance to draw level with Mbappé and then pass him comes as Barcelona continue their league campaign, with his 20th birthday still months away. Whether he reaches 41 before then is the question LiveScore has already framed as a matter of time.
