Lamine Yamal a doubt for Barcelona at Valencia after knock, Sunday decision | OneFootball

Lamine Yamal missed Barcelona’s group training on Saturday after a knock, will travel to Valencia on Sunday for the 16:15 kick-off but is not certain to play.

According to L'Équipe, Hansi Flick said the 19-year-old trained individually and everything went well, and that he will travel with the squad. He took a knock and had pain, so the staff opted for an individual session.

Flick added the player felt fine afterwards and he hopes he can feature on Sunday, but he will decide on the day whether to start him. He accepted it might be better for him to rest.

Gabriel Jesus could make his Barcelona debut at Mestalla, though he is not yet at 100 per cent, in Flick’s view.

The coach considers captain Raphinha, who has scored five goals in the first three matches as a number nine, the best centre-forward option in the current squad. That follows the departures of Robert Lewandowski and Ferran Torres and the aborted move for Argentine forward Julian Alvarez.

The champions can go top on their own with victory on Sunday, after Real Madrid’s first defeat of the season on Friday at Betis Sevilla, 0-1.

Source: L'Équipe

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