Barcelona head coach defuses tensions with Spain over teenager’s injury
Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has said it is too early to know whether Lamine Yamal will recover in time for the club’s first clásico of the season on 26 October.
The club revealed on Friday that the 18-year-old has suffered a setback with a groin problem he sustained in September, just days after returning from the same injury.
“He is better but it’s not good,” Flick said on Saturday. “With this type of injury, it’s not so easy to say whether it’s two weeks, three weeks, or four weeks, or if he’s able to play the clásico. We have to go step by step and see how the evolution is.”
Yamal first picked up the injury on duty for Spain in September’s international window. He was forced to miss four games for Barcelona, before returning in the second half against Real Sociedad last weekend, and playing full time against Paris Saint-Germain in midweek.
Two days after his first full match since the injury, Spain recalled him to the squad for the World Cup qualifiers in this month’s international break, but Barcelona announced only hours afterwards that the injury had resurfaced. Yamal subsequently dropped out of Spain’s squad.
The teenager’s welfare has sparked tensions between Barcelona and the Spanish federation since the initial injury. Flick accused Spain’s coach Luis de la Fuente and his staff of “not taking care of young players”.
De la Fuente later hit back in a confrontational manner in a press conference, saying he and his team take “zero risks” and he expected “more empathy” from Flick.
Flick moved to defuse the tension.
“I have no bad things about this situation,” said Flick. “I know it from the other side. It’s not easy for me. It’s not easy for [De la Fuente].
“I must protect my player. This is the reason I made it a little louder than normally I want to do it. I don’t regret this.
“Now, the important thing is managing this together. The players, the clubs and the Spanish Federation. We have to manage it together.”
