Barcelona coach Hansi Flick expressed his anger at the Spanish national team, claiming that coach Luis de la Fuente’s handling of Lamine Yamal was the main reason for his injury.
Barcelona announced on Saturday that Yamal would miss the Valencia match due to a groin injury. Catalan newspapers also revealed that the 18-year-old’s participation in the upcoming Champions League match against Newcastle is highly doubtful.
“Lamine’s absence is sad,” Flick said in the press conference before the Valencia match. “He went to the national team with pain. He didn’t train much with the national team, yet he played in both matches when they were ahead by more than three goals. He played 79 and 73 minutes in both matches.”
He added, “This means we’re not taking care of the players. I think Spain has the best team in the world, but we have to take care of the players, especially the young ones, and it seems that’s how we’re doing it! I’m sad about this.”
When asked about his communication with De la Fuente regarding Yamal and the rest of the Barcelona players, he replied, “I haven’t spoken to anyone. I’ve only messaged them. My Spanish isn’t good, and his English isn’t good, but communication could be better, because we don’t have just one player in the national team, but more than one.”
The relationship between Barcelona and the Spanish Federation has been extremely sensitive for the past two years, particularly when Gavi tore his cruciate ligament in an unimportant match against Georgia. The two sides traded accusations regarding responsibility for the injury, and it seems the same will happen again in the case of Lamine Yamal.
