Inter Milan forward Marcus Thuram reckons Barcelona’s young sensation Lamine Yamal is not the best player in the world. Thuram said the French duo of Ousmane Dembele and Kylian Mbappe are ahead of the Spaniard.

Meanwhile, Thuram opened the scoring as Inter drew 3-3 at Barça in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday. However, Yamal scored a perfect goal from an individual effort as he stunned the opposition’s defenders. 

“No, he’s not,” Thuram told Canal Plus when asked if Yamal’s recent performances make him the best player in the world right now.

“The best player in the world is French. And the second is also French. Ousmane and Kylian. Yamal is maybe third.”

Yamal made his 100th appearance as a Barça player against Inter, after two years from making his debut as a 15-year-old.

After the first-leg semifinal, Inter Milan head coach Simone Inzaghi tipped Yamal as a phenomenon that comes after every 50 years.

Inzaghi was in awe after the match. “We started well, but they created a lot of problems: he created a lot of problems,” he said. “He is a player I had not seen live before… Lamine Yamal is a phenomenon born every 50 years.”

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick concurred with his counterpart as he said, “I think he’s special. I said it, often before, he’s a genius. During the game, when I look at the match from the outside, it’s not like when you see after. You see all the details and it is unbelievable how he does it.”

The second leg of the semifinal between these two teams will be played on Tuesday at San Siro.