Barcelona sensation finished PSG game with overload, still called up by national team | OneFootball

According to journalist Jose Alvarez Haya on El Chiringuito TV, Lamine Yamal ended Barcelona’s clash against PSG with muscle overload and was almost limping by the final whistle.

Despite this, Spain have still decided to call him up for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Barcelona’s narrow 1-2 defeat against the defending European champions had several storylines, but Yamal’s return to the starting XI stood out.

The youngster played the full 90 minutes, showing his quality, yet he left the pitch with visible discomfort.

For a player who is still only 18, this kind of workload is worrying, especially when he had only just returned from an injury picked up with Spain last month in a match against Turkey.

Earlier today, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente confirmed his squad list for the qualifiers against Bulgaria and Georgia.

Apart from a few expected absences, the list remained mostly unchanged. To Barcelona’s frustration, Yamal was included despite the concerns around his fitness.

Club vs country tension growing

Yamal finished the PSG game with overload. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images for Qatar Airways)

At CBarcelona, this decision will not go well. The club has already seen how Yamal’s heavy international schedule contributed to his last injury, which sidelined him during an important stretch of matches.

The coaching staff, led by Hansi Flick, have worked carefully to manage his minutes since his recovery.

Seeing him immediately called up again, especially after finishing the PSG game in pain, is a situation the club views with anger and disappointment.

The reality is that Yamal is one of Spain’s most important players for the future, and the federation is keen to have him available at every opportunity.

However, Barcelona believe his long-term fitness must come first.

Flick knows that Yamal is a unique talent capable of changing games on his own, but also that rushing him could create bigger problems down the line.