Monday, April 6

Lamine Yamal’s pass vs Atletico was outrageous, but which is the best you have ever seen?


(This is an updated version of a story that was first published in April 2022.)

It was in his own half, using the outside of his foot, following an audacious nutmeg.

Lamine Yamal showed his incredible ability once again with a perfect pass against Atletico Madrid on Saturday. The only thing that could have made it better was his team-mate’s finish.

But where does it rank in the pantheon of passes?

Here, The Athletic’s writers salute the best they’ve ever seen, starting with the 18-year-old’s effort.

Let us know your nominations for football’s greatest pass ever played in the comments below…

Lamine Yamal — to Fermin Lopez, Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona, La Liga, April 2026

There were gasps of amazement from the Metropolitano crowd as Barcelona attacker Lamine Yamal took one perfect touch to pluck the ball out of the air, then another to slip the ball nonchalantly through the legs of his unfortunate marker, Nico Gonzalez.

While most supporters were still marvelling at what they had just witnessed, Yamal had already spotted Fermin Lopez’s run behind the Atletico defence.

With his next touch, he used the outside of his left boot to curve a perfectly weighted ball around Clement Lenglet to set Lopez clear in behind the Atletico defence. The ‘trivela’ pass is a speciality of his, and this one, despite being launched from inside his own half, was inch-perfect.

The midfielder missed the chance, but it was a phenomenal moment from Yamal, still a teenager, and capable of pretty much anything on a football pitch.

Dermot Corrigan

Christian Eriksen — to Dele Alli, Tottenham vs Chelsea, FA Cup semi-final, April 2017 

It’s probably been exaggerated in my mind because I was lucky enough to be there to see it live, but it’s still one of my favourites.

Thirty-five yards from goal, facing a back line that is properly set and — still — Eriksen drops a shallow cross in perfectly so it is between centre-back and goalkeeper, and also into Dele Alli’s stride.

Sidenote: I think (hope) it’s the only time I abandoned press-box decorum in showing a reaction to a goal.

Seb Stafford-Bloor

Stephen McPhail — to Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink, Leeds United vs Derby County, Premier League, March 1998 

Phil Hay has already written about why this is Leeds United’s third-greatest goal of all time — and it is all about a cracker of a pass, a young midfielder announcing himself with a ball from the gods.

The way he plays this pass over the top perfectly into the path of Hasselbaink, after only a touch and a glance, speaks for the quality McPhail had on the ball.

With a bit more pace, he would have been a star. As it is, this is the moment that defined his career.

Amitai Winehouse

Dennis Bergkamp — to Freddie Ljungberg, Arsenal vs Juventus, Champions League, December 2001

This one’s all about time — and how Dennis Bergkamp managed to hit the pause button.

In a 2001-02 Champions League second-group-stage game against Juventus at Highbury, the Dutchman receives the ball on the edge of the box and is immediately pressed by two defenders.

Using all his craft, he holds them off before picking the perfect moment to play a sumptuous outside-of-the-boot flick into the path of the arriving Freddie Ljungberg, who lifts the ball into the net.

Bergkamp knows what, and who, he is waiting for — and makes sure the ball is in the perfect place at exactly the right time.

Sarah Shephard

Benjamin Pavard — to Carlos Mane, Stuttgart vs Greuther Furth, Bundesliga 2, October 2016

The greatest pass ever played found its unlikely stage in the German second division. This was Benjamin Pavard before the sweet strike against Argentina that was voted the finest goal of the 2018 World Cup, Pavard before the big-money move from Stuttgart to Bayern Munich.

He cuts five defenders out of the game with one fizzed 50m pass, hitting Carlos Mane in stride, whose scruffy finish only amplifies Pavard’s genius. Hang it in the Louvre.

Jacob Whitehead

Frank de Boer — to Dennis Bergkamp, Netherlands vs Argentina, World Cup quarter-final, July 1998 

Four days after knocking 10-man England out of France ‘98 on penalties, dastardly Argentina face the Dutch in the last eight.

A thrilling contest in Marseille is heading for extra time at 1-1 when Frank de Boer gets on the ball in the left-back position with nothing much going on. But he looks up and sees something nobody else does. Watching it, you can almost see the little twitch of realisation before he readies himself, then propels the ball forward like a golf shot.

With pinpoint accuracy, it sails over everyone and comes down in the corner of the penalty area.

Dennis Bergkamp controls the ball, flicks it past a defender, and fires home the winner. Orange eruption.

Joey D’Urso

Guti — to Karim Benzema, Real Madrid vs Deportivo La Coruna, La Liga, January 2010

Best pass I’ve ever seen? That’s a tough one when Lionel Messi, Kevin De Bruyne and many others could supply extensive portfolios of their best work.

Yet the most implausible piece of brilliance goes back to a La Liga game 12 years ago between Deportivo La Coruna and visitors Real Madrid.

Guti is through on goal at the Riazor. Will he dink it over goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia? Maybe slip it between his legs? No, Guti tries something that I have never seen before — or since. It’s the most ridiculously brilliant back-heel you will ever see.

Aranzubia is stranded. Karim Benzema is running in from behind (though how Guti knows that is a mystery) and puts the ball into the empty net.

Daniel Taylor

Steven Gerrard — to Daniel Sturridge, Liverpool vs Fulham, Premier League, February 2014

Liverpool are losing 1-0 just before half-time away to Fulham in a game they must win to keep their Premier League title hopes alive.

Steven Gerrard pounces on a loose ball in the centre circle, has a glance up, and dispatches an exquisite first-time through ball with the outside of his right boot to release Daniel Sturridge.

The pace on the ball and the spin that makes it curve into his path ensure Sturridge doesn’t even need to break stride.

The pass got the finish it deserved. The vision and the execution from Gerrard were extraordinary.

James Pearce

Eric Cantona — to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Manchester United vs West Ham, Premier League, December 1996

Every time I watch this pass, I just cannot believe it’s possible. The angle, the weight, the spatial awareness — all done with typical nonchalance.

And like any great pass, it comes with a message to the striker telling him exactly what to do once the ball lands at his feet.

A moment of genius from Eric Cantona.

Charlie Eccleshare

Kevin De Bruyne — to Leroy Sane, Manchester City vs Stoke City, Premier League, October 2017

The easy pass here is out wide to Gabriel Jesus. A slightly trickier ball would be through the channel to Raheem Sterling. But Kevin De Bruyne isn’t about the easy option. Never has been.

Instead, the Belgian gets out his mental protractor and proceeds to take four defenders out of the game with an outrageous through-ball to Leroy Sane.

Sane doesn’t have to take a touch before finishing past Jack Butland, such is the perfect weight of the pass, and the Etihad Stadium crowd erupts, knowing it has just witnessed a man at the peak of his powers.

De Bruyne’s talent is so exceptional that you almost expect a moment like that whenever you watch him play. This, however, was a pass on a different plane — one you could never grow tired of watching.

Youri Tielemans — to Kelechi Iheanacho, Leicester City vs Brighton & Hove Albion, Premier League, March 2021

The first touch seemed to take him in one direction, but the second touch shifted the ball back in another.

Youri Tielemans appears to look towards the right flank but he has already seen the pass in his mind. He has spotted Kelechi Iheanacho’s feint to step forward on his marker, Brighton’s Lewis Dunk, and then his turn in behind, so he doesn’t need to telegraph his intentions by looking again as he delivers an inch-perfect, defence-splitting no-look pass for the striker to equalise in Leicester’s 2-1 win at the Amex Stadium last season.

Iheanacho’s confident finish just complemented what Jamie Redknapp, who was a more than decent passer in his day, described as the pass of the season.

Rob Tanner

Kaka — to Hernan Crespo, Milan vs Liverpool, Champions League final, May 2005

People often say that every time they watch Paul Gascoigne’s point-blank miss in extra time of the England vs Germany Euro ‘96 semi-final, they think he’s going to score.

For me, the pass Kaka plays for Hernan Crespo’s goal to make it 3-0 to Milan in the 2005 Champions League final is the same way: every time I see it, I’m convinced Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher is going to cut it out.

It’s the speed that’s most astonishing: Kaka collects the ball in his own half, sends Steven Gerrard for a sandwich with a perfect flick, then has about a quarter of a second to assess his options.

He processes these at the speed of a supercomputer, spots the two-yard channel that is the only ground-level route to Crespo’s run, and somehow threads the ball through with enough pace to evade Carragher’s lunge.

It’s so good, you barely even notice Crespo then applying one of the best finishes a Champions League final has ever seen.

Nick Miller

Francesco Totti — to Damiano Tommasi, Roma vs Chievo, Serie A, December 2001

Frankly, this isn’t a serious list without the inclusion of Francesco Totti.

It’s hard to pick one in particular among the backheels and his famous first-time, round-the-corner passes. But I’m going for this vintage assist for Damiano Tommasi against Chievo back when Roma were last champions.

Look at the poise, how he waits for the midfield runner and then takes out eight Chievo players.

Ridiculous.

David Silva — to Edin Dzeko, Manchester City vs Manchester United, Premier League, October 2011

A genius moment, from a special player, in one of the Premier League’s most memorable matches.

Manchester City are winning 5-1 in stoppage time as Old Trafford empties and the away fans gleefully do the Poznan.

A looped ball forward is headed by Manchester United defender Chris Smalling straight to David Silva on the right side of the pitch and inside his own half.

The Spaniard controls the ball in the air with an impeccable first touch before hitting an exquisite volleyed pass with his second straight into the path of Edin Dzeko, who rifles home City’s sixth.

Tom Burrows

Lionel Messi — to Luis Suarez, Barcelona vs Celta Vigo, La Liga, February 2016

Lionel Messi’s penalty pass to Luis Suarez on Valentine’s Day six years ago has to be one of the most loving balls ever played.

Messi is about to score his 300th league goal from the penalty spot but putts the ball to his team-mate instead.

When you watch Messi in the flesh, you hope to see something magic, something you will never forget. This 6-1 win over Celta Vigo was filled with such memory-box moments.

He opened the scoring with a free kick, dinked another assist for Suarez, and dribbled in and out of Vigo’s defence — but it was this short and cheeky pass, originally intended for Neymar, that has stayed with me.

Caoimhe O’Neill

Cesc Fabregas — to Andre Schurrle, Chelsea vs Burnley, Premier League, August 2014

Can I praise a former Chelsea player, considering my loyalty to West Ham? Oh, go on then.

Cesc Fabregas’ assist for Andre Schurrle, struck 20 minutes into his Chelsea debut and previously acclaimed by my colleague Simon Johnson, remains the best pass I have ever seen.

When Branislav Ivanovic crosses the ball to him, Fabregas could attempt a shot, but he spots Schurrle’s run in behind the Burnley defence and plays a ridiculously great ball for his team-mate, who scores.

This move highlights why the Spaniard is widely considered among the very best passers of the Premier League era.

Roshane Thomas

Luka Modric — to Rodrygo, Real Madrid vs Chelsea, Champions League quarter-final, April 2022

The yin to Barca’s yang, there has to be a Real Madrid equivalent of a ‘trivela’ pass to rival Yamal’s effort — and arguably none are finer than this from the transcendent genius Luka Modric.

The Croatian midfielder struck his outside-of-the-boot effort so that it looped not only between two Chelsea defenders, but perfectly onto the right foot of team-mate Rodrygo to level the aggregate score at 4-4 in the Bernabeu.

Modric’s Brazilian team-mate didn’t even have to adjust his run after Modric — despite the pressure, despite the stage — produced a pass of absolute genius. It put Real Madrid on course for a rollercoaster extra-time victory before lifting the trophy later that year.

Kevin Coulson

Xabi Alonso — to Luis Garcia, Liverpool vs Sunderland, Premier League, November 2005

The craziest thing about this pass is that Xabi Alonso does not even look.

Now and again, I remember this pass and just have to find it and watch it again and again. I still can’t quite believe how he sees it or executes it.

The difficulty levels are off the scale but Alonso makes it look like a five-yard lay-off. The direction, the accuracy, the weight; just the audacity to even attempt this — and on the swivel, as well.

From his own half, he splits the Sunderland defence in two — Luis Garcia probably can’t believe his luck.

The scary thing is Alonso’s second assist of this same game, 15 minutes later, is arguably just as good.

Alonso was a world-class passer.

Andy Jones

(Top photo: David S Bustamante/Soccrates/Getty Images)





Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *