Lamine Yamal has revealed an interesting detail about Marcus Rashford’s experience of playing in El Clásico after joining Barcelona.
Rashford made the move to Barcelona from Manchester United with plenty of expectations on his shoulders, but playing against Real Madrid was a completely different experience for the England international.
According to Yamal, Rashford initially did not fully understand just how intense the rivalry between Barcelona and Real Madrid really is.
The Barcelona winger recalled watching Rashford during his first Clásico and admitted that he felt the former Manchester United forward had not yet understood what the fixture meant.
Yamal explained that players who come through Barcelona’s academy grow up knowing about the importance of the rivalry. From a young age, they understand that matches against Real Madrid carry a different level of pressure and emotion.
For Rashford, however, it was something he had to experience for himself.
The Englishman had spent his entire senior career in England before making the switch to Spain, meaning the culture and history surrounding El Clásico were completely different from what he had experienced in the Premier League.
Yamal believes Rashford began to understand the rivalry much better after playing in his first meeting with Madrid.
The youngster also pointed to Rashford’s attitude in the return fixture as evidence that the forward had started to appreciate the occasion.
Rather than simply being another important league match, El Clásico demands a different level of intensity from everyone involved. Every tackle, chance and mistake can become a major talking point, while the atmosphere surrounding the fixture is unlike most matches in world football.
Rashford’s experience also shows how quickly a player can adapt to Barcelona’s environment.
The 27-year-old arrived at Camp Nou with a reputation built in the Premier League, but he has had to adjust to a new country, a new style of football and, perhaps most importantly, one of football’s biggest rivalries.
Yamal’s comments therefore appear less like criticism of Rashford and more like an insight into what it takes to truly understand Barcelona’s biggest fixture.
For a player who did not grow up in the Barcelona academy, experiencing El Clásico first-hand may be the only real way to understand what it means to supporters.
And judging by Yamal’s comments, Rashford has already begun to learn.
With the rivalry continuing to produce high-pressure encounters, Barcelona fans will hope the England forward can continue to embrace the occasion and become an important figure whenever the two Spanish giants meet.
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