MADRID, SPAIN - OCTOBER 26: Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona wears a special edition Coldplay match shirt during the LaLiga match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on October 26, 2024 in Madrid, Spain.

Barcelona set to take extreme caution with the recovery of Lamine Yamal

Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images

FC Barcelona have had an incredible start to the new season under Hansi Flick but one factor that threatens to derail all the good work they have done so far is injury to key players. As good as the first XI is, the Catalan club’s squad is wafer thin, in terms of quality, when it comes to the backups.

Against Real Sociedad on the weekend, the absence of Lamine Yamal, who missed the game through an ankle injury, was severely felt by Flick’s men. Fermin Lopez could not even get close to replicating the kind of impact that the 17-year-old has had so far this season.

After the game, Barcelona announced that their teenage superstar had suffered a grade 1 injury to the right ankle’s syndesmosis and is set to be out for two to three weeks and his availability will be determined by his recovery.

Lamine, subsequently, pulled out of Luis de la Fuente’s Spain national team squad. La Roja’s head coach revealed that it made most sense to not have the 17-year-old travel and has instead replaced him with Tottenham winger Bryan Gil who is currently on loan at Girona.

Now, as per a report from SPORT, Barcelona will exercise maximum caution with Lamine Yamal when it comes to his recovery. Thankfully, two of his mentioned three weeks coincide with the international break but it is still not clear if he will be available to face Celta Vigo when club football resumes.

The last thing that Barcelona want to do is rush Lamine back from his issue, resulting in a relapse. The teenage sensation is extremely essential to the way Flick’s team plays football and it is no coincidence that the club has lost both games that Lamine has not started in La Liga this season.

The game against Real Sociedad was the first time that Lamine Yamal had missed a game for Barcelona through injury since breaking through under Xavi Hernandez last season. The club will want to nurse him back to full fitness, as perfectly as they can.

The important thing with the 17-year-old is to let time take its natural course. If he recovers well enough, there is no reason why he can’t be called up for the Celta Vigo game and let’s wait and see how his time at the club plays out going forward.

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