Lamine Yamal links up with Cody Rhodes, poses with WWE Universal Championship belt; captures Randy Orton's wild RKO

Lamine Yamal links up with Cody Rhodes, poses with WWE Universal Championship belt; captures Randy Orton's wild RKO

Lamine Yamal links up with Cody Rhodes, poses with WWE Universal Championship belt; captures Randy Orton's wild RKO ByHT Sports Desk Mar 15, 2025 08:48 AM IST Share Via Copy Link Lamine Yamal met the WWE stars backstage and Cody Rhodes also gave him the WWE Championship belt as the 17-year-old posed with the title.

Young football sensation Lamine Yamal was linked up with WWE superstars Cody Rhodes, Randy Orton, Drew McIntyre and Triple H at the Friday night Smackdown in Barcelona. Yamal took some time off after playing a pivotal role in Barcelona's 3-1 win over Benfica in the UEFA Champions League and went to attend the WWE Smackdown alongside his teammates Alejandro Balde and Hector Fort.

Lamine Yamal caught up with Cody Rhodes backstage at WWE SmackDown.(Instagram/@lamineyamal)

Yamal met the WWE stars backstage and Rhodes also gave him the WWE Championship belt as the 17-year-old posed with the title. The crowd in Barcelona was high on energy and made it a successful WWE show on the road to WrestleMania as Yamal also captured the moment Orton executed an RKO on Carmelo Hayes on his phone camera.

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Triple H also posted with Yamal on social media and wrote, “The future of @FCBarcelona is brighter than ever…enjoy the show, Lamine.”

Meanwhile, Yamal was a force to reckon with against Benfica and netted his first goal in seven matches, but it was worth the wait. The 17-year-old cutting in from the right and arcing a sensational shot past Anatoliy Trubin and in at the far post from the edge of the box.

He also dropped the Benfica defender on the floor while setting up Raphinha's first goal with a brilliant pass in the box, which opened Barcelona's scoring.

"His goal was spectacular, it shows what Lamine is -- he's a spectacular player with tremendous quality," said Raphinha.

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick was also relieved when Yamal got his name back on the scoring sheet in a crucial game.

“Lamine hadn't scored for a long time, six games and over a month, so he's happy because it was a very important goal for us, a brilliant effort. We are all happy for him because he is a great kid and a fantastic player,” Flick said after 4-1 win over Benfica.