Inter Milan striker Marcus Thuram has said Barcelona's Lamine Yamal is not the best player in the world, ranking him behind his France teammates Ousmane Dembélé and Kylian Mbappé.
Thuram opened the scoring as Inter drew 3-3 at Barça in the first leg of their Champions League semifinal on Wednesday, with Yamal inspiring the home side to come back from 2-0 and 3-2 behind.
The 17-year-old scored Barça's first goal with a brilliant individual effort, leading to Inter coach Simone Inzaghi labelling him a phenomenon that comes around every 50 years.
"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 clocked up his 100th appearance as a Barça player against Inter, just over two years on from making his debut as a 15-year-old.
Since then, he has helped Spain win the European Championships and become an essential part of a Barça side aiming to win the treble this season, scoring 15 goals and assisting 24 in all competitions.
Former Barça winger Dembelé, meanwhile, is enjoying the best season of his career with Paris Saint-Germain, with his goal helping the French side beat Arsenal 1-0 in the first leg of the other semifinal on Tuesday.
Dembelé has now scored 33 goals this season, with 25 of them coming in 2025 -- more than any other player in Europe's top five leagues.
It has been a tougher season for Mbappé, his first with Real Madrid, but he has still managed to score 34 times despite having to adapt to a new country, a new club and new teammates.
Thuram has now netted 18 times himself this year, coming back from injury to open the scoring against Barça after just 30 seconds with a brilliant flicked finish.
Inter and Barça meet again in the second leg on Tuesday in Milan, with the winners facing either PSG or Arsenal in the final on May 31 in Munich.