FC Barcelona: Flick praises Lamine Yamal's "self-confidence"

FC Barcelona coach Hansi Flick on Tuesday praised the "self-confidence" of prodigy Lamine Yamal, who stated in an interview that he believed he and Kylian Mbappé were among the two best players in the world and deserved to win the 2026 Ballon d'Or.

"Lamine? I think he's just being honest, he has that self-confidence, and he's shown at the start of this season how strong he is. He's an exceptional player. I would have preferred that he didn't position himself this way, but it's normal that he wants to win the Ballon d'Or, it's an important trophy. He's just saying what he feels, and I'm going to continue to support him," Flick said in a press conference.

"What I love is that he also shows this confidence on the pitch. We all love to see him play like that, when he dribbles past one, two or three players, the whole stadium goes 'wow!' That's Lamine. It's incredible to have a player like him. He says he deserves to win the Ballon d'Or, and I think he does too. He's won two titles with us and the World Cup with Spain, so why not?" he added.

The 19-year-old winger, who finished second in the voting behind Ousmane Dembélé last year, said in an interview that will be broadcast in full next Friday on Movistar that he deserved to win the trophy this year ahead of Kylian Mbappé.

"In my opinion, Mbappé and I are the two best players in the world. It's very clear, and everyone who watches the matches knows it," he stated.

When repeatedly asked about it, his coach Hansi Flick gave him his support but admitted that he would be "very happy" when the Ballon d'Or campaign comes to an end.

The German coach, under contract with Barça until 2028, also welcomed the organization of the 2029 Champions League final at Camp Nou, which is still under construction at the moment, but without promising that he will still be on the Catalan bench at that time.

"I will be there, 100%... whether as a coach or as a Barça supporter. We don't know what can happen in football, everything moves very fast. I really enjoy living in Barcelona, coaching this fantastic team, but you never know," he explained.

Barça, the reigning Spanish double champions and already sitting atop La Liga, are aiming for a sixth win in six games on Wednesday against newly promoted Racing Santander.