Lamine Yamal faces up to a month out injured after sustaining a right ankle injury in Barcelona’s 1-0 loss against Leganes on Sunday.
“Tests carried out on Monday have revealed that the player has a grade 1 injury to a ligament in the ankle,” a Barcelona statement confirmed. “The player is expected to be out for 3 to 4 weeks.”
Yamal, 17, appeared to sustain an injury during the first half of the Leganes defeat. The winger went down on the pitch at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys and looked to be signalling for a substitution to be made but then carried on and came out for the second half.
Yamal was eventually withdrawn for Gavi in the 75th minute.
Assistant coach Marcus Sorg, stepping in for the suspended Hansi Flick, was asked about the withdrawals of Yamal, Robert Lewandowski and Dani Olmo after the game. “‘We wanted to have fresh players,” Sorg said. “We changed the structure of the team with two strikers to try to bring a different dynamic to the pitch.”
Yamal has been a key player for Barcelona this season, registering six goals and 12 assists in 20 appearances. He was also presented with the Golden Boy 2024 trophy — having been voted by a select group of journalists as the best player under the age of 21 — before the Leganes game.
Barcelona are back in action next Saturday with a crucial home game against Atletico Madrid. Diego Simeone’s side are level on points with Barcelona following their 1-0 home win over Getafe on Sunday and have played a game fewer than the Catalan side.
Following the Atletico game, Barcelona do not play until the Copa del Rey round-of-32 tie against Barbastro on January 4. They then face Athletic Club in the Supercopa de Espana semi-final on January 8, followed by a potential final if they beat the Basque club, and return to La Liga action at Getafe on January 19.
GO DEEPER
The Briefing: Barcelona 0 Leganes 1 – more Barca inconsistency, Hansi Flick’s absence and cat versus cucumber
(Javier Borrego/Europa Press via Getty Images)
