Lamine Yamal: Hansi Flick Criticizes Spain As Barcelona Fears Confirmed

Barcelona will be without superstar teenager Lamine Yamal against Valencia, manager Hansi Flick has revealed.

The Catalan giants confirmed in a short statement that Yamal is suffering from an injury in the pubic area and having not trained with the first team following his return from international duty, is not in contention to play on Sunday.

Flick was critical of the Spanish national team for their role in Yamal’s absence—the teenager is a crucial player for his country despite being just 18 years old.

“He won’t be available. He went off to play for Spain with some pain and did not train. They gave him painkillers so he could play,” Flick vented. “They had at least a three-goal lead in both matches, and he still played 73 and 79 minutes. Between the games he wasn’t able to train. That’s not looking after the player. I’m very sad about this.”

A timetable for his return was not revealed.

Yamal, a contender for this year’s Ballon d’Or, has two goals and two assists to his name in three La Liga outings so far this season. He registered three assists as well over the international break as Spain trounced Bulgaria and Türkiye en route to scoring nine goals—the comprehensive margins of victory perhaps playing even more into Flick’s frustration with La Roja.

Flick still has options at his disposal. Marcus Rashford could come into the starting XI on either flank should the German boss choose to move Raphinha or Ferran Torres around.

After starting their season with two wins, Barç dropped points in their last game of August against Rayo Vallecano. They look to get back on track in front of a home crowd albeit at an unorthodox ground. As renovations at Camp Nou continue, the club was forced to seek special permission to host the game against Valencia at the Estadi Johan Cruyff, home of Barcelona Femení.

Barcelona had to install the necessary equipment for VAR to get the ground approved, with the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the stadium they have played at for the past two seasons, unavailable due to a Post Malone concert.