Lamine Yamal IS BACK in Barcelona training

There has been some positive news regarding the fitness of Lamine Yamal.

Barcelona‘s 17 year-old wonderkid Lamine Yamal has been out injured since the start of the month. He picked up an ankle injury in the Champions League against Red Star and hasn’t played for the Blaugrana since.

But now it is being reported that the Kopa Trophy winner is back in training ahead of this weekend’s clash with Las Palmas and that he is likely to play in that game.

In his press conference before their 3-0 win over Brest, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said that Lamine Yamal “will miss the game against Brest as we will be careful but we hope to have Lamine back on Saturday… maybe on the bench.”

And so with reports of him being back in training, we can probably expect Barcelona’s brilliant wonderkid to be back in action for the Blaugrana on Saturday’s noon kick-off.

No Lamine Yamal No Party?

One notable aspect of Lamine Yamal’s absence is that, while Barcelona handled Brest with ease in the Champions League, they have not won either of the two La Liga matches that Lamine Yamal was absent for.

A 1-0 loss away to Real Sociedad before the international break was followed up by them meekly surrending a 0-2 lead to draw 2-2 with Celta Vigo just after the international break.

That alone would be a worrying trend, but Barcelona’s only other defeat in La Liga this season was away to Osasuna, a match Lamine Yamal did not start (he did come off the bench and score, though).

Lamine Yamal may only be 17 but he is already establishing himself as a world-class talent. The winger has a liga-leading 7 assists to go with his 5 goals this season, and that jumps up to 8 assists and 6 goals when you factor in the Champions League.

Moreover, Lamine Yamal is Barcelona’s main dribbler and so the penetration he offers is sorely missed when he’s out, and pressing teams can take advantage of that.

For that reason alone, Hansi Flick will be delighted to have Lamine Yamal available for selection again. The only question now is, with no true back-up in the squad, can Flick keep his teenage prodigy healthy for the rest of the season?