Barcelona manager Hansi Flick spoke to the media ahead of Sunday’s match against Sevilla, and as expected, his press conference was dominated by the topic of Lamine Yamal.
On Friday, the 18-year-old was included in the Spain squad for their upcoming matches against Georgia and Bulgaria, but only hours later, he was forced to pull out after suffering a relapse of the pubis injury he picked up last month.
As per Diario AS, Flick gave an update on the situation with his number 10.
“He felt good, and if not, then he wouldn’t have played against PSG. I have spoken with him, today he is better but he is not well. I spoke to him this morning. And I asked him how we can help him.
“Everyone knows about his quality but it’s my responsibility to give him the load of minutes when he returns, which I will. If the players are not 100%, they focus on their strengths, and with the ball he’s incredible, but you also have to be good without the ball, because you have to manage the minutes well.”
He also admitted that he is unsure about when Lamine Yamal will be able to return, thus casting doubt on his involvement in the first Clasico of the season in three weeks’ time.
“We don’t know when he’ll be back, it’s not an easy injury, it’s not a muscular thing. We don’t know if he will be in two, three or four weeks. I don’t know if he will be for El Clasico. He will work with the recovery team and we will see how he evolves.”
Flick unhappy at Spain U21s call-up for Marc Bernal
Another controversial situation with a Barcelona player and the Spanish Football Federation has arisen in the last 24 hours, with Marc Bernal having been included in the Spain U21 squad, despite having barely featured since he returned from an ACL tear last August. Flick admitted his annoyance at the teenager being called up.
“He is not ready to play many minutes at the moment. He is coming off a serious injury of more than a year. Of course he is not 100%, he is not at the physical level he was before the injury, and I think the Federation should be careful and take care of him as well.”
It is understandable that Flick is annoyed about Bernal, given that he has been very careful with his minutes since he returned to action in September. He, like Barcelona, will be desperate for the midfielder to avoid picking up any injuries whilst away with the Spain U21s.
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