The classic with Lamine Yamal’s family: “And all this when he was only 17 years old”

A medium plasma screen, still with the protective plastic, hanging on a white wall with stucco of the same color presides over the bar that Lamine Yamal’s paternal family opened just 26 days ago. What’s it called? Bar Cafe LY 304 . Emulating the last three digits of the zip code. Where from? from Rocafonda, of course. “We don’t want to leave, this is our home,” says Abdul, Lamine Yamal’s uncle who runs the business.

The big event to inaugurate the bar is the Bernabéu classic. We are not going to deceive the reader. In this establishment, of about 80 square meters, the majority of the clients – about 75 men and children – are from Real Madrid. Uncle Abdul tries to contrast the white effect by timidly humming Lamine Yamal’s name every time his nephew touches the ball. He doesn’t know it yet but the night will be epic.

Read also

There is more family. Abdul’s wife is cooking. You barely see her. They serve chicken empanadas, hot noodle and spice soup, homemade potato omelette and a Moroccan tea with mint that flies through the 10 rows of black seats that they have set up for the occasion. Someone else is missing. This is Mounir Nasraoui, Lamine Yamal’s father. “He has promised to come,” says his brother Abdul. “Now you see him less,” says Jamal, a family friend.

The bar is filled with more than 70 men who, despite being mainly Real Madrid fans, vibrate with their idol’s game.

At that moment, Abdul welcomes little Hamsa, a distant cousin of the family, with a smile. He is 10 years old. He has almost reached the break. He is the only one who wears the Barcelona shirt. Hamsa plays for the neighborhood soccer club, Rocafonda CF. He just came from training. Enter by drawing the 304 with your fingers.

Something curious happens. Despite having the television, the customers in the back are watching the game with their cell phones. See first what will happen. And they warn, of course. Therefore, before Lewandowski’s two goals arrive, Hamsa and the bar’s culé resistance, also Abdul, begin to celebrate. “Come on Abdul! the Barcelona fans shout. In the background, his wife continues beating eggs for omelettes.

Abdul rented this place that had been closed for a couple of years. He had sold his Arabica bakery, a famous stand in the neighborhood where he painted the mural with his nephew dressed as Barça. The place is now a cafeteria. It’s called Zouhor.

The establishment, which opened 26 days ago, is covered in Lamine Yamal t-shirts with Barça and the national team

“But I wanted to go back to work,” says Abdul, who is dressed in jeans and a white coat. It was then that he asked his famous nephew to help him. He pays about 700 euros in rent for the premises where he offers a menu for 7.5 euros. There is no mural here. But this week a Moroccan colleague has covered the walls with photos of the winger wearing the Barça and national team shirts. The last jewel that has arrived is the shirt that Lamine Yamal wore on the day of Barcelona’s defeat of Bayern.

“Another, another,” they warn from the background. Thanks to the new tactic, the bar collapses minutes before the neighborhood’s prodigal son scores 0-3. Even the Madrid fans smile. Lamine Yamal is one of them. “He’s only 17 years old huh! Look at him,” Abdul bursts out. “Now it’s done. “Madrid can’t do anything anymore,” he says when he sees Raphinha score the fourth. The show closes with another classic. The song “Lamine Yamal, I love you more every day.” Abdul makes a video call with his daughter and her mother Fatima. Lamine’s father missed it. He has warned his brother. Your afternoon has been complicated. Meanwhile, in Rocafonda, car horns begin to sound. The night will be long.