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Barcelona have announced that Lamine Yamal has suffered a recurrence of the groin injury he sustained while on international duty last month and will miss Spain’s forthcoming World Cup qualifiers.
The 18-year-old winger, who is also ruled out of this weekend’s La Liga meeting with Villarreal, will be sidelined for up to three weeks, the club said on Friday.
Yamal returned from a four-game absence last weekend, making an instant impact as a second-half substitute by setting up the winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Real Sociedad. The result saw Barcelona leapfrog Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table.
The teenager also played the entirety of the midweek Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-German.
Barcelona: ‘The groin problem for Lamine Yamal has returned’
Hours after Yamal was named in Spain’s squad to face Georgia and Bulgaria, however, Barcelona said his recent injury had flared up again.
“The groin problem for Lamine Yamal has returned following the game against PSG,” said the club. “The player will miss the game against Sevilla and his recovery time is estimated at two to three weeks.”
Yamal first sustained the injury during September’s international break, when he played for Spain in matches against Bulgaria and Turkey.
His involvement sparked a rift between club and country, with Barcelona manager Hansi Flick claiming the national team failed to manage a minor injury. Yamal was only able to play after taking painkillers, said the German.
Barcelona boss Hansi Flick: ‘Lamine played with the national team despite pain’
“Lamine played with the national team despite pain,” said Flick. “He had problems, played 79 and 73 minutes, and didn’t even train between matches because of this pain. That is not really taking care of the players.”
Luis de la Fuente, Spain’s head coach, said he was taken aback by the former Germany manager’s comments and denied any risks had been taken with Yamal.
“His comments that we do not look after players surprised me, as he has been a national team coach and I believed he had that empathy,” said De la Fuente. “Here, we take zero risks. Whoever comes in, comes in healthy, fit to play. When they go back home, it is because we have judged there was a risk in staying with us.
“When the [Turkey] game ended, he had a bit of an issue. But I don’t pick players who are carrying an injury. Our medical services have explained it, I have explained it. If he had an issue after the game, I don’t know.”
