Manchester United legend waxes lyrical over Barcelona superstar – ‘Ma…

Speaking on his podcast, Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has lavished praise on Barcelona sensation Lamine Yamal, while also hailing his courage in confronting racism at just 18 years of age.

The past few days have not been easy for Lamine as he was targeted by racist abuse by a section of Atletico Madrid supporters this past weekend at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano.

Not long before that, the 18-year-old wonderkid had to witness anti-Muslim chants at the RCDE Stadium when he was playing for the Spanish national team against Egypt in a friendly encounter.

Rio Ferdinand in awe of Lamine Yamal

Now, Lamine has received support from Ferdinand, who not only praised the quality of the Barcelona forward but also defended him against the racist abuse he received this past weekend.

The former England international also empathises with the disappointment that the 18-year-old wonderkid experienced at the RCDE Stadium.

“He’s made me love football again,” Ferdinand began, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

“You know, before, when there were players like Maradona, Riquelme, Veron… that’s why I love football. People who dared to take on defenders, who did crazy things and simply took risks,” recalled the former Manchester United centre-back.

He continued, stressing that the Barcelona forward is more than just a footballer, having raised his voice against important issues.

Rio Ferdinand has sung praises of Lamine Yamal. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“Lamine Yamal is in that category: the one who takes risks, who wants to entertain. If we’re talking about the best player in the world right now, he has to be in that conversation,” said Ferdinand.

“And you know what else I love about him? That he’s more than just a footballer.”

Referring to the post Yamal made after the match against Egypt, the English legend noted:

“He’s using his voice right now to draw attention to anti-Muslim chants in stadiums. ‘I’m Muslim. Yesterday in the stadium, the chant ‘whoever doesn’t jump is Muslim’ was heard. I know I was playing against the opposing team and that it wasn’t anything personal against me, but as a Muslim, it’s still disrespectful and intolerable.'”

Ferdinand concluded by highlighting the significance of Yamal speaking out at such a young age, as he remarked:

“This is a kid who’s speaking out, you know? He’s not a veteran who’s been doing this for 10 years.

“He’s an 18-year-old kid who’s decided for himself to say, ‘I’m not going to tolerate that, it’s disrespectful, it’s out of line, it’s racist, and people need to know that.’ And I thought that comment was absolutely perfect in tone.”

PHILADELPHIA -- There is no doubt that the Philadelphia 76ers have one of the more talented rosters in the league. Led by Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, VJ Edgecombe, and Paul George all now healthy and building chemistry down the stretch of the season, there is a sense that the Sixers can make some serious noise in the playoffs.

At the moment, the Sixers are fighting to stay in the top 6 in the East so they can avoid the play-in tournament and have the week off, but wherever Philadelphia ends up, it will have a great chance at pulling off an upset thanks to the talent it possesses.

Not only does Philadelphia have a strong starting 5 on paper, but there is some scoring depth off the bench with Kelly Oubre Jr. and Quentin Grimes providing a spark and Dominick Barlow doing whatever it takes to help a team win.

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:I feel like we’re scary," said Grimes. "We’re pretty deep at every position. We have a lot of talented, talented guys. So, I feel like whoever comes in the game, there’s really no drop off where there’s a sub for anybody in the starting unit or whoever comes in. I feel like in the playoffs, I really wouldn’t wanna see us. We’ll try to get that 6 seed and not be in the play-in."

After being acquired from the Dallas Mavericks at the 2025 deadline, Grimes is playing meaningful basketball for the first time since he made the playoffs with the New York Knicks in 2023. The 5-year guard, obviously, joined the Sixers at a tough time when considering all of the injuries that decimated the roster in the previous season so this is a big difference for him.

"It feels great," Grimes stated. "It’s what you kinda work the whole summer for, the whole training camp, and then early on in the season. Just building up that chemistry, that intensity for when you get to these games, that there’s no drop off. There’s nothing new about it, so right now, the intensity is at a super high level the last couple two, three games so it’s been good to see. Gotta keep carrying it over."

When considering all that he and the Sixers went through in 2024-25, it is a satisfying feeling that they have been able to turn things around.

"For sure," he finished. "Just with all the expectations that people have and knowing how loaded we are as a team. We have a lot of guys that can do a lot of things on the court so it’s good to see everybody slowly getting that groove and kinda slowly get in that trying to be peaking come playoff time."

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Quentin Grimes issues confident statement about 76ers' playoff chances