Barcelona travelled to Atlético Madrid on Tuesday night needing to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg, and they made an explosive start – Yamal scored within four minutes, nutmegging Juan Musso after intercepting a lazy back-pass from former Barça defender Clement Lenglet.
That goal also broke a couple of records, making him the youngest player ever to reach 11 goals in the Champions League while also surpassing Erling Haaland as the youngest man to be involved in 10 goals in a single campaign.
Ferran Torres then made it 2-0 on the night with a rocket into the top corner, and suddenly Barcelona were level on aggregate with Atlético looking absolutely rattled, so it seemed Hansi Flick’s men were on their way through.
Then came the moment that changed everything – midfielder Fermín López went for a diving header inside the box and got caught flush in the face by Musso’s boot, leaving him bloodied and requiring several minutes of treatment as play stopped for several minutes.
That stoppage produced a moment that has since dominated social media.
With the game paused and medical staff crowded around López near the corner flag, the Spanish teenager casually walked over to the ball, placed it down on the grass, and sat right on top of it as if he had nowhere to go.
The photograph of Yamal just chilling there, looking completely relaxed while chaos unfolded around him, spread rapidly across social media.
Though, some fans found it bizarre that the number 10 did not go to check on his teammate, who was lying on the ground and bleeding.
Instead, Yamal chose to make sure the cameras were on him so he could get his ‘AURA’ moment.
Funnily enough, the corner resulted in a counterattack for Atlético Madrid, and they scored from it, which was actually the decider for the match.
What stands out is that Yamal actually played out of his skin all night – one goal, four chances created for teammates, 92 touches, 33 dribbles completed – but it still was not enough because Ademola Lookman scored for Atlético in the 31st minute to make it 2-1 on the night and 3-2 on aggregate, sending the Spanish capital club through to the semi-finals for the first time in nine years.
So Barcelona are out, their season is effectively over, but Lamine Yamal sitting on the ball during that stoppage has become the most talked-about image from the tie, overshadowing even the result itself.
