Barcelona coach Hansi Flick stated Saturday that Lamine Yamal’s groin injury is difficult to heal, casting doubt on his likely return date.
In a statement on Friday, the Spanish champions claimed Yamal would be out for two to three weeks, but Flick suggested the 18-year-old winger’s absence may last longer.
Yamal will miss Spain’s World Cup qualifiers but hopes to return before Barcelona’s Clasico against Real Madrid on October 26 at the Santiago Bernabeu.
“This injury is not so easy, like a muscle (injury); we have this experience with (those), the coaches, and the therapists.
“With this kind of injury, it’s not easy to say now, ‘Okay, he can play in two weeks, in three weeks, or in four weeks, so he’s able to play in the Clasico’—this is not possible.
“We have to wait… We have to manage his (work) load. He will train with our recovery team, so for the next weeks he is with them, we have to go step by step and have to see how his evolution is.”
The forward suffered a groin injury while playing with Spain in September, missing four games before returning to action last week.
The teenager, who was just named the world’s second-best player at the Ballon d’Or ceremony, had a recurrence of his injury during Wednesday’s Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain.
Flick claimed he spoke with Yamal on Saturday, and the winger gave him good news.
“I spoke with him today, and it’s much better than before, but it’s still not good,” the coach stated ahead of Sunday’s La Liga match against Sevilla.
Flick chastised Spain coach Luis de la Fuente for allowing Yamal to play against Bulgaria and Turkey while on painkillers.
De la Fuente stated on Friday that he anticipated Flick to have more “empathy” after being a national team coach himself, but the German stayed firm.
“I don’t regret this; I want to protect my players,” added Flick.
“It’s done now; for me it’s over. We have to look forwards… The important thing is that we manage this together, the clubs and the federation.”
