Yamal’s third double of the young La Liga season came at the Ciutat de València on Sunday. He turned in a Raphinha pass from close range in the 19th minute after being picked out unmarked in the box, then buried a penalty 42 seconds into the second half after being fouled himself by Aissa Mandi. Barcelona led 3-0 before Levante pulled two goals back late, but the visitors sealed a 4-2 win in stoppage time.
That was a week on from the 5-0 rout of Valencia on 6 September, where he had also struck twice. In seven days he has put four past two goalkeepers, and Barcelona sit three points clear at the top.
Not bad for a player whose availability had been a live question 48 hours before the Valencia game.
Flick’s precautionary call
Hansi Flick took Yamal out of the last full session at the Ciutat Esportiva on 5 September and had him work individually.
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“Lamine Yamal took a knock and was in pain. It was better for him to train separately. After training, he said everything was fine. He will travel with us and we’ll see tomorrow,” the Barcelona coach told reporters.
Yamal travelled. He started at Mestalla, opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a lofted finish, and showed no sign of the previous day’s problem across a dazzling performance.
The old pubis file
Any Yamal fitness alert now comes loaded. He was diagnosed last season with pubalgia, a chronic soft-tissue complaint of the lower abdomen and groin that he has been managing alongside a club-and-country schedule that rarely lets up.
Last November, the Spanish federation confirmed that Barcelona had notified them Yamal had undergone “invasive radiofrequency treatment for discomfort in his pubis” on the same morning players were reporting to Las Rozas. He was pulled from the qualifiers against Georgia and Turkey, and the RFEF said it was “surprised and upset” by the timing.
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Flick was equally unhappy at the other end of the rope, arguing publicly that Spain had leaned on Yamal in comfortable qualifiers while he was already in pain. The row surfaced and resurfaced across the season.
Nations League break lands next
Barcelona’s league schedule now hands Yamal back to Spain. Luis de la Fuente’s side face England away at Wembley on 26 September and Croatia at home three days later in UEFA Nations League A.
De la Fuente is expected to name his squad in the coming days. What Barcelona will be watching, given the file, is how many of those 180 minutes their teenager is asked to play.
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