{"id":76468,"date":"2026-04-14T14:16:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T14:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/lamine-yamal-draws-inspiration-from-lebron-james-as-he-plots-barcelona-comeback\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T14:16:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T14:16:17","slug":"lamine-yamal-draws-inspiration-from-lebron-james-as-he-plots-barcelona-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/lamine-yamal-draws-inspiration-from-lebron-james-as-he-plots-barcelona-comeback\/","title":{"rendered":"Lamine Yamal draws inspiration from LeBron James as he plots Barcelona comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Lamine Yamal is seeking inspiration from Lebron James as he attempts to lead Barcelona to a Champions League quarterfinal comeback win against Atl\u00e9tico Madrid on Tuesday.<\/p>\n<p>Following Bar\u00e7a&#8217;s 2-0 first leg defeat last week at Spotify Camp Nou, a meme resurfaced referencing the James-led Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Finals 4-3 victory over the Golden State Warriors.<\/p>\n<p>The meme is an image of James with a caption saying &#8216;No team in NBA Finals history has come back from trailing 3-1 (0-32).&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>The viral Bar\u00e7a version says &#8220;FC Barcelona have never beaten Atl\u00e9tico in the Champions League over two legs,&#8221; with Yamal providing a nod to the trend earlier this week by changing his profile photo on Instagram to basketball star James.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Lebron is one of the references that is inspiring me for the game,&#8221; Yamal said in a news conference on Monday when asked about his new profile image.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I put it as my photo for that reason. I am thinking about how he did it [in 2016] and hoping for the same result for us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0413%2Fr1642897_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=570&amp;format=jpg, https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0413%2Fr1642897_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=1140&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0413%2Fr1642897_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=375, https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2026%2F0413%2Fr1642897_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=750&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Lamine Yamal&#8217;s side need to overturn a two-goal deficit in the second leg.\u00a0<cite>Getty<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Yamal will be front and centre at the Metropolitano as Bar\u00e7a try to overturn a two-goal deficit to book a semifinal against either Arsenal or Sporting Clube.<\/p>\n<p>The 18-year-old has scored 22 goals and provided 18 assists in 43 appearances this season and says he is not phased by the expectation placed on his young shoulders.<\/p>\n<p><strong>&#8211; Barcelona file complaint to UEFA after penalty denied in Atl\u00e9tico loss<br \/>&#8211; Barcelona go 9 points clear but insist LaLiga title not won yet<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Since I was a kid, I have taken on a lot of responsibility, so I am used to it,&#8221; he added.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t see it as a problem. It&#8217;s a virtue. I enjoy going out with my teammates and luckily I play for Barcelona, so we have world class players &#8212; veterans and youngsters &#8212; across the side.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;So it&#8217;s not just to do with me. But if that is the case, I don&#8217;t mind [being the leader], but it&#8217;s about the team. And I have full confidence in the team.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Tuesday&#8217;s game will be the sixth meeting between Bar\u00e7a and Atletico this season. Bar\u00e7a won both LaLiga games but lost 4-0 in the Copa del Rey semifinal first leg in Madrid earlier this year. They were unable to turn the tie around in the return match, coming agonisingly short with a 3-0 win.<\/p>\n<p>The task is slightly easier this time round, with Bar\u00e7a 2-0 down instead of 4-0, albeit having to play away from home.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have do what we have done all season, fight for the badge and give everything,&#8221; Yamal said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We have to play as we know how. We have to play with intensity, but without losing our style of play, that&#8217;s the key.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We can&#8217;t think we need a miracle to come back. It&#8217;s one game. We know it starts at 2-0, but we will play the way we know and give absolutely everything.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bar\u00e7a coach Hansi Flick acknowledged his side have a difficult task ahead of them, but expressed optimism they can get the result they need to remain in the competition.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s tough for us, but I believe in my team, that we can make it happen,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;It&#8217;s possible. Why not? I know we play a strong team with fantastic players, so we need a strong and stable defence, but we have to be brave in offence: attack, press.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Maybe we have to use every chance. When you see the last game it&#8217;s the difference. Maybe tomorrow it is totally different and the momentum will be with us.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Bar\u00e7a remain without the injured Raphinha and Andreas Christensen, while Pau Cubars\u00ed is suspended after being sent off in the first leg.<\/p>\n<p>Marc Bernal remains a doubt as well despite travelling with the team, but Flick said Frenkie de Jong could make his first start since February after returning as a substitute at the weekend.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lamine Yamal is seeking inspiration from Lebron James as he attempts to lead Barcelona to a Champions League quarterfinal comeback win against Atl\u00e9tico Madrid on Tuesday. Following Bar\u00e7a&#8217;s 2-0 first leg defeat last week at Spotify Camp Nou, a meme resurfaced referencing the James-led Cleveland Cavaliers NBA Finals 4-3 victory over the Golden State Warriors. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_daextam_enable_autolinks":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76468","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-football-transfers"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/r1642897_1296x729_16-9.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76468","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76468"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76468\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76468"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76468"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/diyhaven858.wasmer.app\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76468"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}