Lamine Yamal scored twice in Barcelona’s 4-2 win over Levante, becoming only the second player this century to record three braces in the first five La Liga games of a season.
Lamine Yamal matches rare Lionel Messi feat Cristiano Ronaldo never achieved
Lamine Yamal has matched another remarkable Lionel Messi achievement after scoring twice in Barcelona’s 4-2 victory over Levante.
The 19-year-old has now recorded three braces within the opening five La Liga matches of the 2026/27 season.
Only one other player has achieved that feat in the 21st century: Lionel Messi.
Even Cristiano Ronaldo, despite his incredible scoring record at Real Madrid, never managed exactly the same start to a La Liga season.
Yamal scores twice against Levante
Barcelona continued their perfect start to the league campaign with another important victory.
Xavi Espart opened the scoring before Yamal made it 2-0 in the 19th minute.
The Barcelona winger then converted a penalty early in the second half to complete his brace.
Levante fought back late in the game, but Karim Adeyemi scored in stoppage time to secure a 4-2 Barcelona victory.
The win gave Barcelona five victories from their opening five La Liga matches.
Three braces in five La Liga games
Yamal’s two goals were much more than another strong individual performance.
He has now scored three braces within Barcelona’s first five league matches of the season.
Those multi-goal performances came against Rayo Vallecano, Valencia and Levante.
That makes Yamal only the second player in the 21st century to achieve this in La Liga.
The first was Messi.
Messi set the standard in 2012/13
Messi achieved the feat during the 2012/13 season.
The Argentine scored braces against Real Sociedad, Osasuna and Getafe during his first four league appearances.
He eventually finished that La Liga campaign with an incredible 46 goals.
For more than a decade, no other player had matched that specific start.
Now Yamal has done it.
Even Cristiano Ronaldo never managed it
This is where the statistic becomes even more interesting.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored 311 La Liga goals during his legendary Real Madrid career.
But Ronaldo never recorded three braces within his first five league appearances of a season.
That does not mean Yamal has produced a better goalscoring start than every Ronaldo season.
In fact, Ronaldo scored nine goals during the opening period of the 2014/15 campaign.
But those goals included a hat-trick and a four-goal performance rather than three separate braces.
Three consecutive multi-goal performances
Yamal’s recent form makes the achievement even more impressive.
His three braces have come in consecutive La Liga appearances.
That means his recent league scoring run looks very simple:
Two goals.
Two goals.
Two goals.
Six goals across those three matches have quickly pushed him towards the top of the La Liga scoring charts.
Yamal continues to follow Messi into the record books
This is not the first time Yamal’s name has appeared alongside Messi’s.
The Barcelona teenager has already broken or matched several records connected to age, appearances and Champions League performances.
But this achievement is different because it is not simply about being young.
It is a pure La Liga scoring milestone.
Only Messi had achieved it this century before Yamal.
Another huge start from Barcelona’s No.10
Yamal has started the new season in outstanding form.
He now has six La Liga goals after five rounds.
Barcelona have also won all five of their league matches and remain at the top of the table.
At only 19, Yamal continues to produce numbers usually associated with the biggest stars in football.
Messi matched, Ronaldo missed
The statistic is now one of the most eye-catching of the young season.
Three braces.
Five La Liga matches.
Only Messi had done it before in the 21st century.
Cristiano Ronaldo never achieved exactly the same feat during his nine seasons with Real Madrid.
And after another two-goal performance against Levante, Lamine Yamal has once again placed his name alongside Lionel Messi in the La Liga record books.
