Barcelona’s 1-0 dwelling win over Celta Vigo on April 22 was overshadowed by inspirational winger Lamine Yamal struggling an harm, with the 18-year-old saying the timing of his misfortune “hurts greater than I can clarify”.
The 18-year-old was substituted in the course of the first half and clearly in ache, resulting in considerations that certainly one of Barca and Spain’s key inventive presences could possibly be out for a sustained interval.
“This harm leaves me off the sphere on the time I most wished to be [on it],” Lamal responded a day later in a social media submit.
“It hurts not with the ability to battle with my teammates, not with the ability to assist when the crew wants me. However I imagine in them and I do know they’re going to present their souls in each sport.”
Right here’s the most recent on Yamal’s progress, together with when the feeling may return and his prospects of enjoying on the World Cup.
What’s the most recent information on Lamine Yamal’s harm?
Barcelona issued an replace a day after Yamal was compelled off confirming that the academy product has sustained a left-hamstring harm.
The membership added that Yamal would comply with a “conservative therapy plan”.
How lengthy will Yamal be out for? Which video games will he miss?
Yamal is predicted to overlook the remainder of Barca’s run-in as Flick’s aspect bid to seal their Liga title defence, having regained a nine-point benefit over second-placed Actual Madrid by beating Celta Vigo.
They’ve six matches remaining in 2025/26, all of that are in La Liga following their Champions League quarter-final exit towards Atletico Madrid in April.
Probably the most notable match Yamal will miss is the Clasico towards Madrid on Could 10. Right here’s how Barca’s schedule seems to be.
| Date | Opponents | BST begin time | ET | PT |
| Sat, Apr 25 | Getafe (A) | 15:15 | 10:15 | 07:15 |
| Sat, Could 2 | Osasuna (A) | 20:00 | 15:00 | 12:00 |
| Solar, Could 10 | Actual Madrid (H) | 20:00 | 15:00 | 12:00 |
| Wed, Could 13 | Alaves (A) | 20:30 | 15:30 | 12:30 |
| Solar, Could 17 | Actual Betis (H) | TBC | TBC | TBC |
| Solar, Could 24 | Valencia (A) | TBC | TBC | TBC |
Will Lamine Yamal play on the World Cup with Spain? Potential return date
Relying on their severity, hamstring accidents often take between 4 and 6 weeks to totally recuperate from.
That might imply Lamal will have the ability to prepare totally in the course of the remaining week of Could. A return in six weeks would roughly coincide with Spain’s remaining pleasant earlier than the World Cup, when La Roja face Peru within the Mexican metropolis of Puebla on June 8.
Spain’s marketing campaign on the finals begins towards 69th-ranked Cape Verde in Atlanta on June 15. Their fixtures may work kindly for alleviating Yamal again to motion as a result of they then tackle 61st-ranked Saudi Arabia.
The reigning European champions’ toughest-looking group-stage fixture is towards Seventeenth-ranked Uruguay in a sport going down greater than two months after Yamal’s harm occurred.
Medical skilled and FIFA-certified doctor Pedro Luis Ripoll believes Yamal’s comeback must be a “very cautious” one as a result of the harm has a 30% recurrence fee.
“We now have to be extraordinarily cautious with the restoration timeline,” Ripoll advised El Larguero, through Cadena Ser.
“If the harm is situated within the muscle stomach, we’re speaking a couple of extra benign prognosis; nonetheless, if it’s situated on the junction of the muscle and tendon or within the tendon itself, the harm could possibly be extra severe: a minimum of 4 to 6 weeks.”
Spain’s preliminary World Cup schedule seems to be like this. Kick-off occasions with an asterisk denote the day prior to this.
| Date | Opponents | BST | ET | PT | Venue |
| Mon, June 15 | Cape Verde | 17:00 | 12:00 | 09:00 | Atlanta |
| Solar, June 21 | Saudi Arabia | 17:00 | 12:00 | 09:00 | Atlanta |
| Sat, June 27 | Uruguay | 01:00 | 20:00* | 17:00* | Guadalajara |
Lamine Yamal stats, harm historical past
Since making his senior breakthrough with seven targets and 9 assists in 50 appearances in all competitions for Barca in 2023/24, Yamal has quickly established himself as among the finest gamers on the earth.
Yamal contributed 18 targets and 25 assists in 2024/25, serving to his membership win La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Tremendous Cup.
The penalty that brought about his harm was additionally Yamal’s twenty fourth objective in all competitions of one other extraordinary season, with the prodigy the runaway chief when it comes to Liga assists after establishing 11 targets.
Solely Liga high scorer Kylian Mbappe, of Actual Madrid, may higher Yamal’s complete of 27 direct objective involvements within the division on the time of his harm.
The France captain and Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqi have been the one gamers to have surpassed Yamal’s tally of 16 targets within the division on the time.
The 2025 Ballon d’Or runner-up produced 4 assists and 6 targets in Barcelona’s Champions League marketing campaign, scoring after 4 minutes to place them forward on the night time within the second leg of their tie towards Atleti, though their home rivals held off their comeback to advance 3-2 on combination.
A scorer on his Spain debut towards Georgia in September 2023, Yamal has six targets and 12 assists throughout 25 caps.
Barcelona missed Yamal for 5 matches throughout September and October whereas he handled pubalgia – a sort of sports activities hernia involving a continual soft-tissue harm of the decrease stomach or groin, additionally inflicting him to overlook 4 Spain video games.
In 2024/25, Yamal sat out 5 Barca fixtures and three internationals with an ankle difficulty.
Who will Barcelona change Lamine Yamal with?
Whereas some regard Yamal’s skills as irreplaceable, the excellent news for Flick is that Barca have an abundance of attacking choices able to offering loads of menace.
Brazil ahead Raphinha hoped to quickly return from a hamstring harm on the time when Yamal skilled the identical drawback, whereas the likes of Dani Olmo, Fermin Lopez, Marcus Rashford and Joao Cancelo additionally present width and targets.
Flick spoke earlier than the sport towards Celta Vigo about 20-year-old winger Roony Bardghji, who changed Yamal when he was harm.
“He’s hoping for extra enjoying time, however typically that’s the way it goes,” Flick mentioned, calling the Sweden worldwide “a incredible skilled”.
“We now have Lamine in that place… proper now, we additionally want him on the pitch. Roony is incredible and I’ve spoken with him and defined his state of affairs.
“He’s enjoying with one of the best on the earth and he’s improved loads, and we’ll discuss on the finish of the season; there are nonetheless video games to play.
“[The players are] all vital, and we’d like all of them to be higher.”
Barcelona scored an astonishing 102 targets throughout their 32 league matches in 2024/25.
They wanted to common three targets per sport to eclipse the whole throughout their remaining six matches of the 2025/26 season.
