Barcelona’s preparations for the primary El Clasico of the 2025-26 season have taken an surprising flip, as Lamine Yamal faces a race towards time to be match for the conflict towards Actual Madrid on the Santiago Bernabeu later this month. The 18-year-old prodigy, who has already turn out to be one of many membership’s most indispensable gamers beneath Hansi Flick, suffered a recurrence of a pubic harm that has troubled him for weeks.
The most recent setback comes simply as Barcelona had been hoping to regain momentum following their Champions League loss to Paris Saint-Germain. For Flick, it’s one other check of depth and flexibility as his aspect prepares for Sevilla, Girona, and Olympiacos — all with out their brightest star.
The Catalan membership confirmed on Friday that Yamal can be sidelined for two to a few weeks as a result of discomfort in his pubic space — the identical difficulty that pressured him to overlook 4 matches in September. He had solely simply returned to motion, that includes off the bench within the 3-1 win over Actual Sociedad earlier than beginning within the 2-1 defeat to PSG. That call, nonetheless, got here at a price. Yamal reportedly walked off in seen ache, and medical exams later revealed a relapse. With simply 22 days separating Barcelona from El Clasico, his availability is now in critical doubt.
In accordance with Mundo Deportivo, the preliminary plan at Camp Nou is to have him totally slot in time for the Actual Madrid conflict, although sources contained in the membership admit it can rely totally on how his restoration progresses. This harm, whereas not extreme, has a historical past of lingering longer than anticipated.
Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe are the most important stars of Barcelona and Actual Madrid, respectively.
Hansi Flick’s sincere replace
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick confronted the media on Saturday forward of the match towards Sevilla, the place he addressed the rising concern over Yamal’s situation. The German tactician, visibly cautious, refused to vow a timeline — as an alternative delivering an eight-word bombshell that despatched ripples by means of Barcelona’s fanbase.
“We don’t know when Lamine might be again,” Flick mentioned. “With this harm, it’s not simple to know because it’s not a muscle downside. It may very well be two weeks, three, and even 4. I don’t know if he’ll be prepared for El Clasico.” The coach burdened that {the teenager} can be monitored every day and would proceed to work with the membership’s restoration crew: “He’ll take it step-by-step. We’ll see the way it goes.”
For Barcelona, who have already got Gavi, Raphinha, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen sidelined, dropping Yamal at this stage is a devastating blow. Flick should now rely extra closely on Ferran Torres, Dani Olmo, and even Fermin Lopez to fill the inventive void.
