Hansi Flick makes worrying Lamine Yamal injury admission

• Yamal absent for Barcelona’s 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad
• 17-year-old Kopa Trophy winner struggling with ankle injury
• Flick admits he doesn’t know when to expect Spaniard to be fit again

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick says the club are waiting to find out more detail about the ankle injury that forced Lamine Yamal to miss Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Real Sociedad.

The Catalan giants suffered just their second La Liga defeat of the season against La Real, allowing fierce rivals Real Madrid to close the gap at the top of the table to six points after their thumping 4-0 win over Osasuna.

Yamal, who was recently awarded the Kopa Trophy at the 2024 Ballon d’Or ceremony, had played in Barcelona’s 12 La Liga fixtures previously, scoring five goals and assisting seven more, but was forced to miss the game because of an ankle injury picked up in the midweek Champions League win over Red Star Belgrade.

Speaking after the game, a concerned Flick admitted Barcelona had no choice but to leave Yamal out ahead of the international break, hinting that he hopes Spain’s medical staff will come to same the conclusion.

“The doctors will handle it; they will speak with the Federation’s medical team. I believe that if he didn’t play today, there weren’t any options,” Flick said. “We have to accept it, and the Federation will make the right decision.

“I have also been in the Federation’s position. You have to accept it; they will make the right decision, I’m sure, because Lamine is very important to them as well, of course.”

Pressed on a potential return date for Yamal, Flick was up front in saying that he didn’t know. “I’m not sure,” he retorted. “I hope we can find out more about his condition today. But we don’t have anything clear. As soon as we know, we will let you know.”

The German also accepted Barca had not been good enough against Real Sociedad, suggesting poor decision making at vital times was a main factor in the defeat.

“It was certainly not our day. We have to accept this result, I think they played with determination,” Flick mused. “It is clear what we saw and there are no excuses, we did not create enough chances. We started very well with the ball. I was happy, but then we began to suffer and their goal came. In the final third, we made bad decisions.”