Dembele feels like a perfectly valid winner after that final. These things don't have to go to whoever wins the biggest competitions, but neither Raphinha nor Yamal were so good as to override it as a factor, either. Salah might have been, but...
I see nothing in the writeup to indicate the "J" in "J. Cruyff" stands for "Johan". You'd think United fans'd be at least a little weary.
Otherwise, this:
Ajax's still up there too, but the sheer concentration of talent they've churned out over the past thirty years or so is exceptional.
Even their so-called fallow years still saw players like Thiago, Icardi, Olmo, Fati, Xavi Simons, Cucurella...
Let's tackle this another way. These are, in my opinion, Yamal's best three performances of the season:
Some other noteworthy games:
And also (for completeness' sake, like):
Some obvious questions that emerge here:
Where...
He ranks ninth across the top five leagues in goal involvements for the season, while leading Europe in both big chances created and most dribbling stats. That's before even delving into how poorly his team's performed without him, or how...
It legitimately doesn't matter which flank he's passing from. He's got two equally good left feet, and his right foot isn't even useless. Add the deliberate, probing dribbling style, and it feels as though he's coming up with new solutions to old...
Some crazier stats: he made fourteen out of twenty dribble attempts yesterday, won seven fouls, and hit the woodwork three times over the tie. (He apparently told CBS didn't even see Raphinha for that late lob in the first game. He'd previously...
Super Saiyan II Yamal has been pretty wild:
I'm surprised he had this extra level to tap into at this stage of the season. I thought he'd looked tired for awhile, and downright exhausted vs. Madrid in the cup final.
That makes sense. I actually looked for it, but my eyesight can be largely vibes-based at this point.
Giuseppe Giannini could technically fit, although I think his best work might have happened in the Eighties.