According to a report by Barca Universal on Tuesday, November 3, 2026, former Barcelona and Real Madrid winger Luis Figo has expressed his admiration for Lamine Yamal, praising the teenager’s exceptional footballing qualities while making a humorous comment about how they could have played together during their careers.

The former Portuguese international suggested that he might have needed to change his preferred position if he had shared the same team with the Barcelona youngster. Figo acknowledged Yamal’s impressive qualities and indicated that a tactical adjustment would probably have been necessary to accommodate both players.

Figo, who won the Ballon d’Or in 2000, was discussing Yamal’s attacking abilities and the challenges defenders encounter when facing technically gifted players. At just 19, the Barcelona forward has become an important figure in the team, regularly causing problems for opposition defenders through his excellent dribbling, creativity and ability to create scoring opportunities from the right flank.

Speaking about the possibility of playing alongside Yamal, Figo responded with humour, suggesting that he would have been willing to operate on the opposite side of the pitch.

“If we had played together, maybe I would have had to play on the left and switch positions,” he said, as quoted by SPORT.

The former winger also discussed the defensive difficulties associated with stopping a player of Yamal’s quality. He explained that modern football has gradually reduced the use of traditional man-to-man marking, with defenders increasingly concentrating on protecting specific areas of the pitch.

“I think you see less and less man-to-man marking on the field these days. Logically, you mark the player who most often comes into your zone, in this case, the left back,” he explained.

Figo further emphasised that assigning one defender to follow Yamal throughout an entire match would be an ineffective approach because of the youngster’s movement and attacking intelligence.

“Trying to mark him man-to-man all over the field would be crazy,” Figo added.

The Portuguese legend also reflected on his own qualities as a footballer, recalling the technical ability, physical strength and explosive acceleration that made him one of the outstanding right wingers of his generation.

Figo was particularly dangerous in one-on-one situations, where his pace and dribbling skills regularly allowed him to overcome defenders.