BARCELONA : Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal will miss a second consecutive game due to an ankle injury but manager Hansi Flick on Friday urged the rest of his players to step up in his absence in their LaLiga clash at Celta Vigo this weekend.
The 17-year-old missed their 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad which halted Barca’s seven-match winning streak in all competitions two weeks ago and Flick said that his players need to show that they can win without their teenage sensation.
“Tomorrow I will put the question to the team, it will be a very good question for them (if they can win without Yamal),” Flick told a press conference on Friday.
“Against Real Sociedad we didn’t play well and it wasn’t because of Lamine’s absence. He is a very important player for us, but we have options to also play well without him.
“He won’t be able to play tomorrow, we don’t know when he will be able to go back from his injury but what is clear for me is that we want him to be back only when he is 100 per cent recovered.”
Yamal played a big role in Spain’s European Championship title win earlier this year in Germany, winning best goal and the young player of tournament award in his breakthrough campaign.
He continued to thrive this season with five goals and seven assists to help Barca to the top of the LaLiga standings on 33 points, six ahead of rivals Real Madrid, who have a game in hand in second place.
Flick suggested that he may have to adjust his system as it is hard to replace a player with such a mixture of speed, technique and finishing.
“We might be a bit limited by the absence of Lamine (Yamal),” Flick said.
“But we have a lot of players with great quality and they can play in different positions. We’ll see what we’ll need and we’ll design the game plan.
“It’s always important after the international break to come back strong and with confidence. That’s our goal for tomorrow.”
Third-placed Atletico Madrid, who are one point behind Real, host lowly Alaves on Saturday.
