Mario Lemina had dominated the headlines heading into Tuesday night's encounter between Galatasaray and Barcelona in the Champions League.
Ahead of the match, the Galatasaray midfielder raised eyebrows when old comments of his resurfaced on social media, in which he appeared to dismiss Lamine Yamal in favour of his teammate Leroy Sane.
As it turned out, the Gabon international picked the worst possible opponent to provoke, as Lamine Yamal did the talking with his football.
Indeed, Yamal ran the show in Barcelona's 4-1 win in Istanbul, collecting the Player of the Match award after an exhibition that included a stunning fake-rabona assist for Anthony Gordon's goal.
Yamal met Lemina's family after the Galatasaray match. (Photo by Burak Kara/Getty Images)
The teenager then took to social media with a pointed message of his own, posting a carousel of images from the game alongside the caption, "Do you know me now?" , accompanied by a ghost emoji.
Faced with that response, Lemina appears to have waved the white flag.
The 33-year-old softened his stance entirely, sharing an Instagram story featuring a photograph of his young son posing with the Barcelona star.
"Of course I know you, my little one is crazy about you. Congratulations Lamine Yamal,"he wrote.
Lemina's Instagram post after the match. (Source: Instagram)
This marks an end of saga involving Lemina, who had managed to get the spotlight before the kick-off. He was among the Galatasaray players who approached Yamal at full-time so that his son could have a photo taken.
Very soon, more and more people could get to know Yamal, with the Barcelona star currently one of the favourites to win the Ballon d'Or.
Along with Harry Kane, he is one of the frontrunners after a brilliant year that saw him Barcelona secure the league title. He also won the World Cup with the Spanish national team.
If he wins the Ballon d'Or this year, he will shatter Ronaldo Nazario's long-held record of being the youngest winner of the prestigious trophy.
The 2026 Ballon d'Or ceremony is scheduled to be held on October 26 in London, just a day after the season's first El Clasico between Barcelona and Real Madrid.
