Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal is out for “two to three weeks” after aggravating a groin injury, and he will miss Spain’s World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria next week.
The 18-year-old, who missed four games when the issue surfaced on international duty in September, returned to action on Sunday, coming off the bench to help Barcelona defeat Real Sociedad 2-1.
However, the injury flared up again after Yamal played in Barcelona’s Champions League defeat to Paris St. Germain on Wednesday.
Barcelona said, “The groin problem for Lamine Yamal has returned following the game against PSG.
“The player will miss [Sunday’s] game against Sevilla, and his recovery time is estimated at 2-3 weeks.”
Yamal’s second layoff is the latest episode in a long-running conflict between club and country over the young player’s care. He has two goals and four assists in five Barcelona outings this season.
“Spain, they have the best team in the world, the best players in the world,” Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said after Yamal was first ruled out.
“So, maybe they will also want to take care of our players, our young players, but it’s like they are doing this [to them].”
When asked about the criticism on Friday, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente denied that there was any quarrel between them but added that he “was surprised by the German manager’s comments, given that [Flick] is a manager who has also coached a national team, and I thought he would have had more empathy.”
