Hansi Flick has called on his Barcelona players to step up in the absence of Lamine Yamal and help fire the club to the Liga title.
Yamal sustained a hamstring injury in the act of scoring the winning penalty against Celta Vigo on Wednesday night and is likely to miss the rest of the season. The 18-year-old Spain international, who is also a doubt for the World Cup, has been one of Barca’s stand-out players this season with 24 goals and 18 assists in all competitions.
He will leave a significant void in the Barcelona line-up as they approach the run-in to the end of the season. Flick’s side have a nine-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid with six games to go.
The German said: “We need them [to step up]. We are a team and if a piece is missing you have to be more together and give 100% or more for your team-mates. There are six games left and the goal is to win them all.
“It’s not easy, for him or for us, but we must manage it. He will also learn from his first muscle injury. He will hopefully be there for the World Cup and will come back stronger.”
Today’s press conference was dominated by questions around the teenage superstar.
Asked how Yamal was doing, Flick replied: “At 18 years old he is doing very well, with the pressure he has on him. I think that is the fourth question about him and that shows his importance. He is mature, he is intelligent, he is demonstrating it every week. It is normal that he is now affected.”
Getafe’s 1-0 midweek win at Real Sociedad moved them up to sixth in the table and right into the mix for a European spot.
Boss Jose Bordelas said: “We have to live day to day and try to work with that mentality [of thinking about Europe]. We dream every day but without the mentality to achieve things it is very difficult.”
Bordelas also expressed his sympathy for stricken Yamal.
“I always want the best players to be there,” he added. “As well as being a coach I’m a fan, but that has happened to all of us, you always have injuries. Barça is one of the best teams in Europe, they lead the table by a large difference over [Real Madrid in] second. They are a great team, and we’ll need to play at a great level if we want to get a good result.”
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Team news for Getafe v Barcelona
In addition to Yamal, Barca will also be without Raphinha and Marc Bernal due to injury. Eric Garcia is suspended. Ronald Araujo, Frenkie de Jong, Fermin Lopez and Marcus Rashford could return to the XI.
Zaid Romero is suspended for the home side but Domingos Duarte is back from a ban. Juanmi and Borja Mayoral are injured.
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