In Barcelona's surprise defeat to Leganes last weekend at home, Lamine Yamal was injured and had to leave the pitch. The moment the team's number 1 young talent grimaced in pain made the Cules very impatient. In the end, they received bad news when Yamal will have to take at least a break from now until the end of the year.
Barcelona confirmed that the 17-year-old striker had suffered an ankle injury after being carefully tested on Monday morning. Yamal's injury was a Category 1 ankle ligament injury.
Lamine Yamal suffered a strong collision in the first half and fell to the ground. After that, he showed signs of pain and seemed to show signs of being substituted. However, the 17-year-old star continued to play and could not bear it any longer in the second half, and was substituted in the 75th minute by Gavi.
Lamine Yamal's newly confirmed injury will deal another blow to Barcelona's ambitions this season. Currently, they are still leading La Liga after round 18 with 38 points. However, the Blaugrana are tied with Atletico Madrid (ranked 2nd). Real Madrid is currently in 3rd place with 27 points. Both Madrid sides have only played 17 games. This means that if Real and Atletico both win the make-up match, Barca will be immediately overwhelmed in the rankings.
The reason Barca is so impatient with Yamal's injury is because their current form is in complete contrast to the time they crushed Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League. In the last 6 matches in La Liga, Barcelona have only won 1 match against Mallorca. They have lost 3 matches against Real Sociedad, Las Palmas and most recently Leganes. In between were the losses against Celta Vigo and Real Betis.
This weekend, Hansi Flick's team will have to face Atletico Madrid in a very important match because if they lose, the Catalan team will lose the top spot.
In times like these, losing Yamal for 3-4 weeks was a huge shock for Barca. The 17-year-old striker has been shining since EURO 2024. Since the beginning of the season, Yamal has played 20 matches, scored 6 goals and had 12 assists. He has also just received the Golden Boy award to honor the best young player of the year.
After the match against Atletico Madrid, Barcelona will not play any matches until January 4, 2025. That time was the encounter in the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey with weak opponent Barbastro. They will then face Athletic Bilbao in the Supercopa semi-finals on January 8, 2025. If they beat Bilbao, Barca will play the final a few days later and return to La Liga with a match against Getafe on January 19, 2025.
In the remaining branch of the Supercopa semi-finals, Real Madrid is expected to easily defeat Mallorca. Fans can expect an El Clasico in this year's Supercopa final.
