According to LaLiga leaders Barcelona, Lamine Yamal will be out for three to four weeks due to an ankle ligament injury.
Spanish winger Yamal missed three club games and two international matches in November with an ankle injury but had returned to contribute four assists in five games before suffering a new problem in Barca’s 1-0 home defeat to Leganes on Sunday.
The 17-year-old was replaced by Gavi in the 75th minute at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys as his side dropped points for the fifth time in six league games.
Laminated Yamal Golden boy. pic.twitter.com/7oQ2kSan0h
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 15, 2024
Yamal injury: When will he be back?
Yamal’s absence is a huge blow for Barcelona as they prepare to host second-placed Atlético Madrid on Saturday (20:00 GMT).
The Euro 2024 winners are unlikely to be missed so much when Barca travel to fourth division side Barbastro in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey on January 4 (6pm). The earliest he could return is in the game against Athletic Bilbao in Jeddah, Spain, in the Supercup semi-finals on January 8th (7 p.m.).
Barcelona will then take a break of more than 10 days before facing Getafe, who currently sit fifth from bottom in LaLiga, in mid-January.
Their seventh Champions League game of the season will take place on January 21st (7 p.m.) in the league phase against Portuguese club Benfica.
MEDICAL NEWS ❗️
First team player Lamine Yamal suffered a blow to his right ankle in the game against CD Leganés on Sunday. Examinations carried out on Monday revealed that the player has a Grade 1 ankle ligament injury. The player is expected to be out for 3 months. pic.twitter.com/IAFD0pWFSS
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 16, 2024
Jamal statistics
With six club goals and 11 assists this season, Yamal is one of Barca’s top scorers behind Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha and has the third-most assists of any player in Europe’s five major leagues.
Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka and Liverpool’s top scorer Mohamed Salah are the only players to have scored more goals in these divisions.
He played 90 minutes in each of Barcelona’s last three games, including an assist for Ferran Torres’ 85th-minute winner in a 3-2 win over Borussia Dortmund on December 11.
Barcelona lost three of the four games in which Yamal did not start before the 5-1 win at Mallorca on December 3, when the prodigy provided two assists.
🔄 Substitutions
→🟢 Gavi, Cubarsí
←🔴 Lamine Yamal, Eric#BarçaLeganés pic.twitter.com/QiaXXlFEB0— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 15, 2024
Barcelona: Yamal “very important”
“He is very important,” said coach Hansi Flick after this game. “He can do a lot of things for the team. We know his quality and we need him.”
Barcelona’s loss of form has left the initiative in the Spanish title race to Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid, both of whom still have a game more in hand than Flick’s side.
Atleti are level on points with them, while the reigning champions are one point behind.
