On Friday morning, Lamine Yamal was named in the Spain national team squad, but by midday, Barcelona had released a medical report. It stated that the forward was once again experiencing pubic bone issues, preventing him from taking part in the upcoming match against Sevilla at the Sánchez-Pizjuán Stadium. According to the club, Yamal’s recovery is expected to take two to three weeks.
Expectations that he would be withdrawn from the squad for the games against Georgia and Bulgaria, scheduled to take place in Elche and Valladolid, were confirmed by the evening of the same day. The Spanish Football Federation officially announced that Yamal would not be called up for these matches, accompanying the statement with a comment addressed to Barcelona.
The federation’s statement emphasized that after requesting medical data from the club’s specialists, Barcelona’s doctors provided information about the young forward’s groin discomfort. The federation noted that, as with other players, the priority is a full recovery without health risks, so the decision was made not to call Yamal up for the upcoming matches.
The call-up of Lamine Yamal for these matches has sparked mixed reactions, as last month he already experienced health issues while with the national squad. Following this, the player missed several games for his club and only returned to the field in the most recent round. Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick expressed his dissatisfaction that Yamal was used in the previous call-up despite his injury, after which he was unable to help the team for three matches.
The head coach of the Spanish national team also weighed in on the situation, noting that he was surprised by the position taken by his Barcelona counterpart, and recalled his own experience working with national squads and the expected empathy in such cases.
