The Spanish teenage star wrote a letter to fans the day after Barcelona’s Champions League exit, promising future glory.
Published April 15, 2026
Lamine Yamal has renewed his commitment to winning the UEFA Champions League (UCL) with Barcelona.
On Wednesday, a day after his team was eliminated by Atlético Madrid in the quarter-finals, 18-year-old Yamal said he would not give up and would fulfill his promise of winning trophies with the Catalan club.
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“We are Barça and we will return to where we belong,” Yamal said in an Instagram post. “My parents taught me that a man’s word must be fulfilled…We will bring that to Barcelona.”
Barcelona beat Atletico 2-1 on Tuesday, but lost 2-0 in the first leg at home last week. The Catalan club was aiming to reach the semi-finals for the second consecutive season. Lionel Messi came out on top in 2015, winning the last of the five Champions League trophies.
“I tried my best, but it wasn’t enough,” Yamal posted. “This is just part of the road. We have to climb to get to the top. We know it won’t be easy and they won’t make it easy for us. But giving up is not an option.”
“We have a lot of reasons to be excited, and we’re going to pursue them with all our might. Every failure is a lesson, and you have to trust that you’ll learn from each one.”
Yamal, who scored one of Barcelona’s goals on Tuesday, also spoke in similar words after his team lost to Inter Milan in the 2025 semi-finals, saying he would “not stop” until he “fulfilled his promise” to win the Champions League with the club.
Yamal was still using the photo of LeBron James holding the NBA trophy in 2016 when the Cleveland Cavaliers overcame a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors on his Instagram profile early Wednesday.
He said before the match against Atletico that James was an inspiration for Barcelona’s comeback. His team needed another goal to send the game into overtime on Tuesday.
In La Liga, Barcelona are nine points behind second-placed Real Madrid after 31 matches, with their next match being against Celta Vigo next week.
Barcelona have loudly protested the two-footed refereeing against Atletico and forward Rafinha, who said on Tuesday that the team had been “robbed”, is likely to be punished.
Barça’s incoming president Joan Laporta said on Wednesday that the officiating was “disgraceful” and “unacceptable” and that the club planned to lodge a formal complaint with UEFA.
“That referee was disgraceful, both on the field and in the VAR booth,” he told Spanish media. “What they did to us is intolerable. In the first leg they didn’t give us a clear penalty and sent off one of our players for a yellow card violation. The referee’s decision was very hurtful for us.”
Barcelona had already complained to UEFA about the possibility of a penalty being awarded in Barcelona’s favor in the first leg.
On Tuesday, Pau Kvarsi was sent off in the first half of the opening game, and Eric Garcia was shown a red card in the second half.
Meanwhile, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said his young side would learn from the setback.
“Our team is young and they will grow,” the German said after the match.
“We have to learn more and get better every day and this is what we have to do.”
