LAMINE YAMAL won his battle of the superstars with Kylian Mbappe.

But the Spain winger’s biggest impact on the match was pretty much accidental.

Kylian Mbappe lost the battle of the superstars in France’s semi-final defeat to Spain Credit: Getty

Spain’s second goalscorer Pedro Porro hugs Yamal after the Euros champs booked their spot in the final Credit: AP

Yamal knew little about it when he drew the foul from Lucas Digne that allowed Mikel Oyarzabal to open the scoring from the penalty spot.

The Barcelona wonderkid showed flashes of his brilliance and ended up on the winning side as part of a fantastic team effort.

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Mbappe, like his side, was far from his best for most of the game.

It was only after Perdo Porro put Spain two up that the France captain began to find space and time in the areas of the pitch where it mattered.

FRENCH TWIST
Lamine Yamal clatters Mbappe to leave Real Madrid rival writhing in agony

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Back in 2018, Mbappe, then 19, announced the new generation when he scored twice in four minutes in the 4-3 over Lionel Messi’s Argentina in the last 16.

Yamal, one the day after his own 19th birthday, was unable to match that kind of statement.

But he, boss Luis de la Fuente, and the whole of Spain will not care one bit.

LAMINE YAMAL

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The young man was given a taste of the harsh realities of a World Cup semi final when Adrien Rabiot outmuscled him twice in the opening eight minutes.

It will have been a relief to see Rabiot booked, somewhat harshly, soon afterwards.

But Yamal was not seeing a lot of the ball and when he did, he was mostly content to keep possession and look inside rather than try to beat his man.

The first exception was a dart past Barcola and a hanging cross to the far post which no-one anticipated.

Yamal was lucky to win the penalty because he half turned away from Lucas Digne’s attempt to head clear Marc Cucurella’s cross.

But the ball bounced off his back and Digne, who had not seen him coming, could not pull out of his attempt to volley it clear and caught the winger high on the thigh.

But in to win it, and Yamal was in the right place to make something happen.

Spain were phenomenal and fully deserved to reach the final after outclassing the French Credit: EPA

The first glimpse of true brilliance came seven minutes before half time, when he worked a cute one-two with Dani Olmo and crossed for Fabian Ruiz, only for Dayot Upamecano to intervene.

WIthin five minutes of the restart, Yamal was hobbling after being caught on the left for by Barcola.

Yet moments later he left Digne for dead and it required some excellent work back by Barcola to stop the break developing further.

When the same thing happened at the hour mark, he put the ball in the net but had been fractionally offside.

Yamal was really in the mood now, finding Porro with a cheeky backheel. Deschamps took off Digne and sent on the more robust Theo Hernandez for the final quarter.

Yamal was unable to have the same impact going forward.

At the other end, he was lucky not to be booked for a foul on Mbappe. Near the end of the game, he gave away a dangerous free kick, which Mbappe wasted.

Yamal escaped a yellow card for sliding into Mbappe’s legs in the 77th minute Credit: AP

KYLIAN MBAPPE

The France captain was much the livelier of the two superstars in the opening minutes.

After forcing a poor clearance from Unai Simon, he dropped towards the centre circle, spun away from Rodri and invited Fabian Ruiz into a foot race.

It was Mbappe’s willingness to link play which led to Bradley Barcola hurdling Pedro Porro and getting in behind.

When Ousmane Dembeler found him with a fabulous pass, the stadium expected. But although he escaped the attentions of Pau Cubarsi, Porro got back to nick the ball away.

Mbappe did his best to delay the Spain penalty but struggled for a long spell to make any positive impact on the game.

Spain’s offside trap, involving a very high line at times, frustrated him. And when he beat it just before the break, Simon was out quickly to clear.

The way Mbappe arrived a bit too late to meet Jules Kounde’s cross summed up his and France’s first half.

The France captain was quiet after the break. The one moment he found space in and around the edge of the box, he was quickly dispossessed.

His team were simply unable to find him in dangerous positions.

When Porro scored Spain’s second, Mbappe stood with the ball on the centre spot and tried to make his team-mates aware of the urgency of the situation.

He took the task on himself when he burst past Porro but the angle was too narrow, and Simon was able to save at his near post.

Suddenly Mbappe had half a yard in the box but Cucurella deflected the shot away for a corner.

He kept on trying, with another run cut short by Yamal’s pretty tasty foul before Simon once more charged out of his box to shut the door.

Mbappe’s frustration was typified by the late challenge on Simon which earned him a yellow card. He wasted a late free kick, firing over the bar.

Then Cucurella made another timely intervention to prevent him shooting.

VERDICT

Yamal – 7

This was a solid, but only very occasionally spectacular performance from the boy wonder.

He won the penalty, then gave France enough to think about on their left flank to help prevent them being at their flowing best.

Which was just what Spain required to deliver a victory which was all about the team, rather than individuals.

Mbappe – 5

The man who entered the game with 20 goals in 20 World Cup appearances rarely looked like adding to his incredible tally.

He was lacklustre in the first half like his whole team, and only showed glimpses of his talent after they went 2-0 down.

A late booking summed up a frustrating day as the dream of three finals in a row died.