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Lamine Yamal became the youngest player to captain Barcelona as the Spanish champions began their UEFA Champions League campaign with a commanding 5-1 victory over Feyenoord on Wednesday (local time).
Yamal was 19 years and 58 days old when he took over the captain's armband from Raphinha after the Brazilian was substituted in the 71st minute. According to Reuters, the record was previously held by Bojan Krkic, who captained Barcelona at the age of 20 during a 2010 Copa del Rey match. Raphinha had earlier played a starring role in Barcelona's victory, opening the scoring in the third minute. The Brazilian created space with a clever dummy to leave two defenders trailing before firing into the bottom corner from inside the box. Barcelona doubled their advantage midway through the first half when Karim Adeyemi cut in from the left and produced a superb finish into the far corner. Feyenoord struggled to create clear chances, with Anis Hadj Moussa's effort from close range that went straight at Barcelona goalkeeper Joan Garcia among their few meaningful opportunities before the break. Yamal came close to adding to Barcelona's advantage when his curling effort narrowly missed the target, while Joao Cancelo later struck the post. Barcelona continued to dominate after the interval, and Raphinha grabbed his second of the night after being played through by Pedri. The forward kept his composure to slot the ball into the corner and complete his eighth goal in five games this season. Feyenoord briefly appeared to have pulled one back through Nacho Ferri, but the goal was ruled out following a lengthy VAR review for offside. With Barcelona comfortably ahead, manager Hansi Flick began withdrawing key players, but Yamal remained on the pitch and made his mark after taking over the captaincy. The teenager then extended Barcelona's lead with a 20-yard free-kick that went through a gap in the Feyenoord wall. Sem Steijn scored a late consolation for the Dutch side, but Barcelona restored their four-goal advantage shortly afterwards when Gabriel Jesus came off the bench to head home a delivery from Yamal. The result extended Feyenoord's winless away run in European competition to 12 matches, while Barcelona continued their prolific start to the season, having scored five goals in four of their five competitive matches. (ANI)
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