Barcelona boss Hansi Flick revealed that Lamine Yamal will miss his side’s Champions League meeting with Brest this week, but he expects the winger to be available for domestic duty on Saturday.
The teenage phenom damaged his right ankle towards the end of Barcelona’s comfortable Champions League victory over Red Star at the start of November. Yamal was forced to pull out of Spain’s squad for a second month in a row and has sat out Barcelona’s last two outings – which have both seen the club drop points.
Yamal missed Barcelona’s 2-2 draw with Celta Vigo on Saturday night after a reported injury “setback” but Flick was optimistic that the 17-year-old would be back in the squad next weekend.
When speaking to the assembled media ahead of Barcelona’s European tie against French outfit Brest on Tuesday, Flick revealed: “I think this could be the last game he misses. On Saturday he could be an option from the bench.”
While Flick has been keen to downplay the team’s dependency upon a teenager still wearing braces, challenging others to step up in his absence, Barcelona’s results with and without Yamal paint an unflattering picture.
The Catalan giants have won 14 of 15 matches with their prodigy in the starting XI – only losing to Monaco while playing with ten men for 80 minutes. Yamal still scored in that European tie. Without the impossibly talented youngster in the starting XI, Barcelona have recorded two defeats and one draw from three games.
Veteran centre-back Inigo Martinez was asked about Yamal’s impact in the same Champions League press conference. “We know how important he is, I won’t deny that,” the man 16 years older than his teammate admitted. “He is very unbalancing and makes the opponent’s defensive line retreat. He generates a lot of fear. He is vital, but that doesn’t mean that whoever replaces him isn’t up to the task.
“Everyone who comes on tries to give 100 or 200%. Lamine is Lamine, we don’t have him now and that doesn’t mean that just because he’s not here we won’t win. We have to focus on those we have. There is enough of a squad to win every game. We know his potential.”
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