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The Rest Is Football

Rashford Shines As Barca Continue To Lead The Way

10 Feb 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What makes Lamine Yamal a standout player for Barcelona?

0.031 - 2.334 Gary Lineker

What's in the water at La Masia? That's what I want to know.

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2.835 - 8.662 Alex Aljami

He is absolutely remarkable. It's hard to fathom how you can do that stuff.

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8.682 - 25.043 Gary Lineker

There's probably only one player I could compare him to right now in terms of being so young and so mature. Trent was on the bench. Dani Carvajal was on the bench. Carvajal was clearly angry. It's a difficult situation, that right back situation.

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31.368 - 45.663 Alex Aljami

Hello and welcome to the Rest is Football La Liga edition with Alex Aljo and me, Gary Lineker. Before we get on to the football, Alex, how's your week been? I saw you do one of your interviews. Who was it the other day when you translated?

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45.683 - 47.267 Gary Lineker

It was Zubemendi, Zubemendi.

47.247 - 48.709 Alex Aljami

Does he not speak English, Zubamendi?

48.729 - 58.702 Gary Lineker

He doesn't speak English. And of course you get people in the comments saying, surely he speaks English by now. But his English isn't great. And I think you can easily be misinterpreted, can't you?

58.762 - 59.423 Alex Aljami

Very much so.

59.483 - 66.952 Gary Lineker

Give him time. It's also his first season. It's unbelievable because he's just been absolutely brilliant for Arsenal. It's hard to believe it's his first season playing the Premier League.

Chapter 2: How is Marcus Rashford performing ahead of the World Cup?

87.715 - 89.937 Gary Lineker

So he was almost saying, look, over to you now.

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90.298 - 94.342 Alex Aljami

Yeah, it's nice to have a choice between Zubimendi and Rodri though, isn't it?

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94.362 - 94.702 Gary Lineker

Yeah.

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95.182 - 100.668 Alex Aljami

It's not a bad shot. I think Spain will probably go into the World Cup as favourites.

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100.688 - 105.682 Gary Lineker

Mm-hmm. Yeah, I'd say the same. I'd say the same. They've got an outstanding squad, don't they? Quite scary, actually.

106.102 - 116.077 Alex Aljami

I would say along with France as well, probably. I would say in order, it probably goes Spain, France, England, Argentina.

116.378 - 117.659 Gary Lineker

Brazil don't get a look in.

117.679 - 127.774 Alex Aljami

I think Brazil will come next, but they haven't. I mean, they've got some really, really good players, Brazil, but yeah, it's not one of the great Brazil sides, but with Carlo, Carlo wins everything.

128.255 - 129.497 Gary Lineker

Don Carlo Ancelotti.

Chapter 3: What happened in Real Madrid's match against Valencia?

135.127 - 152.599 Gary Lineker

We will be there. We will be there. And speaking of good goalkeepers, I want to tell you, I've got an exciting week because I'm going to Lisbon twice, actually. I'm going to Lisbon twice in one week. The goal scorer. Well, I'm going to interview the goal scorer. Trubin, man of the moment.

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152.619 - 161.456 Gary Lineker

So I'm flying out tomorrow to interview Trubin and then I'm going back to Lisbon at the end of the week for the Benfica Real Madrid first leg.

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161.777 - 164.101 Alex Aljami

Have you interviewed Jose Mourinho before?

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164.121 - 168.68 Gary Lineker

Yes, yeah, yeah, yeah. So I actually was an intern... At Real Madrid.

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168.7 - 170.203 Alex Aljami

Oh, you were there during his period?

170.343 - 173.229 Gary Lineker

Yeah, when he was the manager 2012-13 season.

173.469 - 174.391 Alex Aljami

Really? How was he?

174.411 - 180.423 Gary Lineker

I loved Jose. Yeah, yeah. He's a strange guy. He's not your average guy.

180.884 - 185.052 Alex Aljami

He's definitely not your average guy because he is a special one.

Chapter 4: Why did Atletico Madrid struggle against Real Betis?

213.29 - 215.754 Alex Aljami

Right, which game should we start with, do you think, Alex?

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215.774 - 217.717 Gary Lineker

Should we start with Barcelona?

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218.058 - 221.543 Alex Aljami

Why not? Why not? Comfortable victory in the end. Let's see how they did it.

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224.468 - 257.535 Unknown

Well, it feels a long time since Barcelona began the defence of their title against Real Mallorca in August. Mallorca finished with nine men that day as Barca won 3-0. There's Rashford. blocked off, it might come to Robert Lewandowski, it does. A fraction of fortune as to how it arrived at the pole's feet, but once it got there, there was only one outcome. Balde.

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260.298 - 308.702 Unknown

Cross in, Mascarell tried to get it away, it comes as far as Casado, he took a deflection and thumped the crossbar. Dani Olmo. Here's Yamal. Mallorca stand off him. They shouldn't have done because Lamin Yamal finds the net once again. Well, you run out of things to say about this young man, but he was afforded a fair amount of time to get his shot away. Jules Koundé.

308.742 - 328.59 Unknown

Barcelona have given it away there. This is Sanchez. It's Sanchez! Garcia makes the save. This is Marc Bernal. Lovely feet from Marc Bernal to score his first Barcelona goal. A special moment for the teenager who showed such composure.

333.346 - 343.941 Alex Aljami

Well, that was easy enough, I would say, for Barcelona. They're looking good. It's funny they're only one point ahead when they've had such a good run. I know they had that one defeat recently.

Chapter 5: What is the significance of La Masia in Barcelona's success?

344.021 - 365.989 Alex Aljami

But I want to start with someone who didn't score, but got a lot of plaudits, and that's Marcus Rashford. Because it's been in the news a little bit, hasn't it, that there's a rumour that Michael Carrick wants Rashford to go back. And the rumour was that actually he doesn't want to go back. He's pretty happy now. I saw a post this morning saying, well played, Marcus. What a performance.

0

366.669 - 371.594 Alex Aljami

If you look at England, who plays on the left for England, I think at the moment, Rashford's miles ahead.

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371.794 - 373.335 Gary Lineker

Yeah, with Anthony Gordon out.

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373.375 - 390.37 Alex Aljami

Anthony Gordon, but Anthony's not had a brilliant season. He's done well in the Champions League, Anthony Gordon. His numbers are not very good in the Premier League. So they're the obvious two at present. But Rashford's been really, really good. Really good. And of course, it's a big advantage.

0

390.35 - 401.76 Alex Aljami

that the way they play in Spain, that it's not so physically demanding that come the World Cup, they won't be knackered by most of the players that play in the Premier League.

402.061 - 405.126 Gary Lineker

Yeah. And he started this game as well, I think.

405.147 - 405.227 Alex Aljami

Yes.

405.948 - 422.117 Gary Lineker

Which he deserved because he's been coming off the bench and really impressing. I think what shows he's got the right attitude as well. He hasn't been sulking, has he? He's just come off the bench, performed well when he's been given the minutes, literally made the most of every minute he's been on the pitch. He had a couple of good chances in this game.

422.377 - 426.685 Alex Aljami

Good efforts, actually. The first one cut in just past the far post. Brilliant try.

Chapter 6: How does the pressure on Diego Simeone affect Atletico Madrid?

436.958 - 448.792 Gary Lineker

Yeah, then Lamine Yamal made it 2-0. Fifth straight game he's scored in all competitions for Barcelona. And this actually surprised me when I read this. It's 10 goals in La Liga, the first time he's reached double figures in La Liga.

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448.812 - 451.896 Alex Aljami

But maybe a sign that he... And he's been playing for so long.

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453.378 - 457.009 Gary Lineker

I don't know, it just surprised me because you think Laminia Mal.

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457.249 - 460.017 Alex Aljami

A reminder that he's not yet 18.

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460.158 - 467.86 Gary Lineker

Yeah. Anyway, he has reached double figures and maybe a sign that he is going to go on to be this player that's going to reach ridiculous numbers every season.

468.008 - 481.606 Alex Aljami

Oh, he will be. As long as, well, there are always dangers for young players, obviously, both mentally and also physically. So a lot depends on that. And he's probably still growing. He is absolutely remarkable.

482.367 - 506.503 Alex Aljami

The things he does, even if he were a player of absolutely in the kind of highlight of his career in the mid-20s, and he plays with an intelligence and a know-how that it's hard to fathom how you can do that stuff. I mean, he already does stuff in every single game that I never did once in my career. And I played at the top, but there are levels and then there are other levels.

506.618 - 519.953 Gary Lineker

Yeah, yeah, it's crazy, it's crazy. There's probably only one player I could compare him to right now, not in terms of the way they play necessarily, but in terms of being so young and so mature is Steval at Chelsea.

519.973 - 520.614 Alex Aljami

Steval, yeah.

Chapter 7: What are the implications of the Copa del Rey results for La Liga teams?

548.428 - 562.25 Alex Aljami

I actually quite like it. As long as you're not, you know, there's always a line that you try not to cross. And he may cross it on occasions, but... I like that. But it's generally a response for people that have had a go at him.

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562.31 - 574.678 Gary Lineker

Yeah, I was going to say, you need to stand up for yourself. You need to have something about you. Sometimes, yeah. And then it was Marc Bernal who scored the third goal, which was his first goal in La Liga. And I think a really important goal for him because he...

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574.658 - 597.493 Gary Lineker

had that horrific acl injury at the start of last season he was out for 382 days so i think hansi flick has been managing his minutes it's slowly bringing him back in so i think that was a massive goal for him and yeah his first la liga goal uh they were a lot better in the second half than they were in the first half barcelona i think that's been a pretty consistent theme this season as well sort of a bit sluggish to start and then and then

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597.473 - 606.286 Alex Aljami

Well, they didn't go behind in this game because obviously they didn't concede, which is fairly rare as well. But it's almost like they want to go a goal behind before they start.

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606.406 - 609.03 Gary Lineker

Yeah, it's just the way they do things. It works for them.

609.351 - 611.233 Alex Aljami

Yeah, and another La Masia play.

611.414 - 626.476 Gary Lineker

Yeah, Tommy Marquez came off the bench and Hansi Flick spoke about it after the game, obviously with Marc Bernal scoring in that game as well. He said relying on La Masia is good for the club. It's how we do things. And it's certainly a good way to do things, isn't it? Bringing these players through.

626.917 - 630.622 Alex Aljami

It's like a talent factor, isn't it? I mean, it's incredible how they do it.

630.802 - 633.366 Gary Lineker

What's in the water at La Masia? That's what I want to know.

Chapter 8: What are the potential future challenges for La Liga compared to the Premier League?

654.595 - 676.3 Alex Aljami

But it was right next to, you know where La Masia is, you would have seen it many times. And obviously nowadays, they don't, they used to live in there, some of the players, and that was the reason they said that's where the production line came from. Nowadays, obviously, they've got the huge training ground. It's not La Masia. I doubt any players stay at La Masia now, do they? No.

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676.28 - 692.108 Alex Aljami

I wouldn't have thought so. No, I don't think so. But it's still in name. It's basically that's their name of their academy now, named from that. But just in case people would like to know a little bit about the history of... It's a beautiful little house, actually, right by the camp now, right next to it.

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692.428 - 719.854 Alex Aljami

So, I mean, it's astonishing, actually, because they obviously had that incredible period when... when Messi and Iniesta and Xavi and people all came through at the same time. And you thought, well, that's a one-off. A little bit like Manchester United did in the Beckham era. And you thought, well, that happens once in a lifetime. But it's repeating it and repeating it. And obviously they can...

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719.834 - 728.97 Alex Aljami

I suppose attract people want to go there. So the big young talents can go there, but still most of them, most of them are probably local.

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729.511 - 734.619 Gary Lineker

I guess the key is as well, then giving those players the opportunity to come up and play in the first team.

734.98 - 756.394 Alex Aljami

That being bold enough to give young players an opportunity. I think that's why, I mean, I'm biased because obviously I play for the club, but I think that's why I think I prefer them as a club to Real Madrid who just go and buy the superstars in world football, which is also, it's another way of doing it. And it's, I mean, they can't really buy them now.

756.434 - 765.147 Alex Aljami

They wait till they get them on a free, which is quite sensible. But it's a different way of doing it, isn't it? Galacticos versus locals. Yeah.

765.127 - 770.034 Gary Lineker

Yeah, Real Madrid has a great academy, but then... Yeah, I mean, some of them do get a chance now.

770.534 - 790.662 Alex Aljami

But I think it's probably harder to come through when you, you know, if you're a brilliant centre forward and they've got Mbappe, you go, blimey, this is not easy to get through. Yeah. And that takes us nicely to Real Madrid, who won away at Valencia. It took them a while again. It was goalless at half-time, but in the end, they bagged a couple. And of course, that man Mbappe scored again.

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