Barcelona: Flick accuses Spain of ‘not taking care of players’ after Lamine Yamal injury

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has accused the Spain of “not taking care of players” after Lamine Yamal was ruled out of Sunday’s LaLiga match against Valencia after featuring for the national team despite carrying a groin problem.

Yamal met up with the squad nursing some pain in the groin area but went on to play in both of Spain’s World Cup qualifying wins against Bulgaria and Turkey last week.

As a result, the 18-year-old will now be absent for the visit of Valencia this weekend and could also be a doubt for Thursday’s Champions League opener away at Premier League side Newcastle United.

Yamal’s injury appears to have incensed Flick, who chose not to mince his words during a press conference on Saturday.

“Lamine goes to the national team with pain, didn’t train, had painkillers to play, they were three goals ahead in every match, and he played 79 and 73 minutes,” Flick said.

“Between the matches he didn’t train. This is not taking care of players. Spain have the best team in the world, in every position they are unbelievably good. I am really sad about this [situation].”

The Barca boss revealed he never spoke to Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente during the latest international break but he admitted that was predominantly a result of the language barrier.

“I never really spoke with [De la Fuente],” Flick added. “Maybe my Spanish is not good, his English is not good, so this is a problem.

“Normally, the communication, because we have more players there than just Lamine, could be better.

“I was also on this side as a national team coach, so I know how hard this job sometimes is, but the communication with the clubs was always good.”