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Lamine Yamal Makes Cryptic Move Before Barcelona vs Real Madrid

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Emmanuel Mendez | Last updated Jan 11, 2026 9:25 AM ET

The Spanish Super Cup Final between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid will be played today in Saudi Arabia.

Both teams are expected to field among their best players for this match, including Lamine Yamal. The 18-year-old Barcelona star did not start in the Spanish Super Cup semifinal against Athletic Bilbao earlier this week, but is expected to start against Real Madrid today.

Yamal played in the second half against Athletic Bilbao as Barcelona manager Hansi Flick did not want to risk the player to an injury.

Ahead of the match against Real Madrid, Lamine Yamal did not make any Instagram posts to motivate himself and the fans, which he has been seen doing before El Clásico matchups.

What fans did notice was another tone of approach on his social media account that has fans talking and wondering what he has in mind for El Clásico this time.

Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona looks on from the substitute's bench prior to the Spanish Super Cup Semi-Final match between Barcelona and Athletic Club at King Abdullah Sports City Hall Stadium on January 07, 2026 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images)

Lamine Yamal's Cryptic Social Media Experiment

Fans noticed that Lamine Yamal had archived almost all of his Instagram posts apart from three promotional posts.

Yamal also changed his profile picture to the cartoon character, Samurai Jack. Fans online discovered that the character, Samurai Jack, is a young warrior who fights a big devil named Aku all the time and never stops.

The message Yamal is reportedly trying to send is that he is the young warrior ready to fight or battle the rival, Real Madrid.