Barcelona’s UNHEALTHY Lamine Yamal dependence laid bare

Lamine Yamal was spotted watching on casually with Lionel Messi’s name on his boots as Barcelona were surprisingly defeated 2-1 by Las Palmas on Saturday.

He had been left out of the starting XI for the third successive LaLiga clash having only recently returned to training following an ankle injury. It has proven a costly absence for the Blaugrana, with Real Madrid able to eat away at the sizeable gap that Barca had opened up at the summit of the table.

More and more, Lamine looks the heir of Messi at Camp Nou, but Barcelona’s reliance on him already appears alarming.

Hansi Flick’s outfit were stunned by the Canary Islanders at the Olympic Stadium as they suffered another blow to their standing as LaLiga leaders – something that looked entirely comfortable just a few short weeks ago.

Lamine Yamal’s absence felt

What has been noticeable about Barcelona’s recent capitulation is that Lamine has been absent for the duration of it.

Barca were defeated 1-0 by Real Sociedad to trigger their recent slide in form and that was followed up by a 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo.

Although they beat Brest 3-0 with ease in the Champions League, that proved only a temporary reprieve before the shock loss against Las Palmas.

Lamine, who has six goals and eight assists in 16 appearances, has failed to start any of these matches.

With and without Lamine

Barcelona’s record with and without Lamine in their starting XI this season is contrasting to say the lead.

When he has started in LaLiga, Barca have won all 11 fixtures, most notably a blistering 4-0 success over Real Madrid at the Bernabeu.

With Lamine on the sidelines, though, the Catalans have failed to win any of their four games.

Prior to this three-game winless streak, they had also lost 4-2 to Osasuna.

None of these clubs are in the top six of LaLiga, so these are not the type of games the Blaugrana would expect to slip up in. Without Yamal, though, they appear to be an issue.

Prior to Saturday’s loss, Barcelona created an average of 2.36xG per game in LaLiga. They have never reached that figure without the blistering winger on from the start.

All this goes to show that president Joan Laporta was right to reject a reported offer from PSG that was worth what he claims to be €200 million.

Lamine Yamal is showing himself to be priceless for Barcelona – but their dependence on a player still only 17 years old cannot be healthy.