Barcelona had the game won long before Lamine Yamal came off. The visitors were already comfortable when Flick sent Anthony Gordon on in his place in the 65th minute of their La Liga opener at Elche. What happened next was the story.

Yamal sank onto the bench and broke down in tears. Raphinha and Karim Adeyemi moved across to try to console him, and he was still visibly upset in the tunnel long after Barcelona had wrapped up a 5-0 win built on braces from Raphinha and Fermín López, a Karim Adeyemi strike and two Anthony Gordon assists.

The scoreline made for the smoothest possible opening night for the champions. The image circulating afterwards was of a teenager sitting on the bench with his head down.

A quiet night ended in an early exit

Yamal had struggled all evening. He looked less influential than the rest of the attacking line in a rare subdued performance on his return to a Barcelona side still finding its feet after the summer World Cup. The player who replaced him, Anthony Gordon, walked on and produced two assists.

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Raphinha did not dwell on the substitution afterwards.

“If we start playing at the maximum level, we’re likely to win. It was a very tough game, but we did our job,” the Brazilian said.

Six months of similar scenes

The picture at Elche was not the first of its kind.

In February, Yamal was withdrawn late in a 3-0 home win over Levante and threw his wrist tape to the ground as he trudged off. Sports Illustrated reported that he had “covered his mouth to exchange words with teammates” as he left the pitch.

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A narrow 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano brought another flashpoint later in the season. Yamal was replaced by Marcus Rashford in the 82nd minute and walked past Flick without looking at him. According to Yahoo Sports, the teenager could be heard repeating “always me… it is crazy” as coaching staff tried to calm him, before he headed down the tunnel to watch the closing minutes.

There was a similar scene earlier, in the Champions League, when Roony Bardghji came on for Yamal in the 89th minute of a 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on 9 December 2025. Yamal, who had already been booked, walked off with a serious expression and appeared to be complaining to himself.

Flick has already answered for this

After the Levante substitution, Flick was pushed at length on his winger’s reaction and pushed back.

“You guys make a big deal out of everything Lamine does. If he’s upset because he was substituted, that’s only human,” the German said.

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“It’s a normal reaction when a player leaves and isn’t happy.”

His verdict on the Frankfurt exit had been almost identical.

“If he was a bit annoyed, then I fully understand and I like it,” Flick told reporters that night, adding: “I was a player too. It’s fully acceptable, not a problem.”

That framing, competitive fire rather than problem, held up while it was one or two incidents. Elche made it four documented moments in nine months, all photographed and all replayed. The next time a Barcelona substitute board goes up with the number 10 on it, the cameras will not be on the man walking on.

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