Barcelona midfielder Garvey says Lamine Yamar is the best player in the world since Lionel Messi after the teenager impressed in Wednesday's 5-1 Copa del Rey win over Real Betis.

Yamal scored once, created two and added another due to offside as Barcelona eased into Monday's quarter-final tie.

The 17-year-old has scored nine goals and provided 13 assists to his teammates in 24 games this season.

Asked whether Yamal was already the best player in the game, Garvey told reporters: "Yes, he is. "Well, after Lionel Messi, he is the best. "

Yamal led Spain to the European Cup last summer, finished eighth in the Ballon d'Or last year and won the Copa Trophy and Golden Boy, an award given to the world's best young players.

He has become a regular in Barcelona's first team, making more than 70 appearances and causing problems for Betis all night on Wednesday.

After Garvey had opened the scoring, Yamal's brilliant lobbed pass set up Jules Condé to score Barcelona's second. The winger then set up Kounde again, but after a lengthy VAR check the goal was ruled out for offside.

After the break, Yamal thought he had scored Barca's third goal, but a VAR review again ruled out the effort for offside before he set up Rafinha's goal with a solo run from the edge of his own area.

Substitute Ferran Torres scored Barca's fourth goal before Yamal finally found the net, finishing superbly from Fermín Lopez's pass. Vitor Roque, on loan at Betis from Barcelona, ​​scored a late consolation with a penalty kick.

When asked if he agreed with Gavi's view on Yamal, Barcelona coach Hansi Flick told a press conference: "You know, Gavi is very emotional, so I agree too. "You can see that. I think you see huge talent in great games and he's shown it many times. But we have to look after him."

After a disappointing end to 2024, Barca have now started 2025 with four consecutive wins, including a 5-2 victory over Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final on Sunday.

Flick hopes his players can maintain that form now in La Liga, where they are six points behind leaders Atletico Madrid and five behind Real Madrid.

"Today is very important for us after the win against Real Madrid," the German said. “It’s great to see all the teams back because we came back (from Saudi Arabia) and only trained yesterday.

"So it was great to see how we performed today, how we performed from the start. We controlled the game and it was really great to see them perform.

"Our big goal is to play like this in La Liga. We are looking at one game after another and of course Saturday is the next game against Getafe. We want to play and be ready for it and win."