Barça boss Flick slams Spain over Yamal injury

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick accused Spain of "not taking care" of Lamine Yamal during the international break after the forward was ruled out of Sunday's LaLiga match against Valencia.

Yamal, 18, featured in Spain's World Cup qualifying wins against Bulgaria and Turkey last week despite managing pain in the groin area.

As a result, he will miss this weekend's visit from Valencia and is also a doubt for Thursday's opening game in the Champions League away at Premier League side Newcastle United.

"Lamine goes to the national team with pain, didn't train, had painkillers to play, they were three goals ahead in every match, and he played 79 and 73 minutes," Flick said in a news conference Saturday.

"Between the matches he didn't train. This is not taking care of players. Spain have the best team in the world, in every position they are unbelievably good. I am really sad about this [situation]."

Yamal had started the season in fine form, scoring two goals and registering two assists for Barça in their opening three LaLiga games. He then contributed three more assists in his two Spain appearances.

Flick, who previously coached the Germany national team, said the communication with Spain boss Luis de la Fuente could be better.

"I never really spoke with [De la Fuente]," he added. "Maybe my Spanish is not good, his English is not good, so this is a problem.

"Normally, the communication, because we have more players there than just Lamine, could be better. I was also on this side as a national team coach, so I know how hard this job sometimes is, but the communication with the clubs was always good."

Barça will also be without Frenkie de Jong against Valencia after the midfielder picked up an injury while with the Netherlands.

Gavi and Alejandro Balde are also still missing, but Barça have been boosted by the return of youngster Marc Bernal, who will be on the bench after over a year on the sidelines with an ACL injury.

- Barcelona's Camp Nou return delayed again: When will they be back?
- UEFA ExCo puts brakes on planned Barcelona game in Miami
- Thiago Alcântara returns to Barcelona's coaching staff

The match will be played at the 6,000 capacity Estadi Johan Cruyff next to Barça's training ground as uncertainty continues to shroud when the team will be able to return to Spotify Camp Nou, which is currently being refurbished.

"I spoke with the players, the captains, and they say it will not affect us," Flick said of having to play the game in a much smaller stadium.

"This is not an excuse. Also Valencia have to play in this stadium. We showed against Como [in preseason] we can win in this stadium and this is what I want to see on Sunday.

"We know the situation. The president [Joan Laporta] explained the whole situation to me. I have confidence in this [returning to Camp Nou]. These things don't affect my team."

It will also be the first fixture with Thiago Alcantara back on the sideline after the former Barça, Bayern Munich and Liverpool midfielder rejoined Flick's coaching staff this week.

"I am really happy he's back," Flick said. "He has a lot of experience and he can pass it on to the players. I can see how the young players listen to him. It could be a really good piece of the puzzle for our success."