Barcelona star Lamine Yamal has changed his Instagram profile picture to an iconic image of LeBron James celebrating the Cleveland Cavaliers' historic 3-1 comeback victory in the 2016 NBA Finals. This quickly became talk of the town with fans sharing it on different social media platforms.
Yamal often uses his social media account to signal multiple things ahead of the matches. Meanwhile, this time, the player has explained the reason behind his iconic profile picture on his official Instagram handle.
Lamine Yamal signals comeback aim with LeBron James tribute ahead of crucial UCL clash
The 18-year-old Barca winger also cited it as motivation for Tuesday's crucial Champions League quarter-final second leg against Atlético Madrid. Yamal, trailing 2-0 on aggregate after the first-leg defeat at Camp Nou, has stated the image of LeBron inspires him to do a similar turnaround. He said:
“LeBron is one of the figures who can inspire me for tomorrow’s game, and that’s why I chose him”.
The Spaniard added:
“I’ll think about how he did the comeback, and hopefully I can do the same”.
The Spanish international faces a daunting task at the Metropolitano, where Barcelona must overcome a two-goal deficit against a resilient Diego Simeone side to advance to the semi-finals.
The gesture has generated significant buzz on social media, with fans drawing parallels between LeBron's legendary NBA Finals reversal and Barcelona's need for a "remontada."
Yamal, widely regarded as one of world football's brightest young talents, has been a key creative force for Hansi Flick's team this season. Despite the first-leg setback, which saw Atlético strike twice through Julián Álvarez and Alexander Sørloth, the player hopes to turn things around to advance to the semifinals.