Lamine Yamal wanted to give a message. This time he chose to send him out first. However, he was spared one letter: after demonstrating that he had rediscovered his talent against Bruges, the 10th showed his self-confidence. “If they boo me – he warned of the few boos received from the Brugge fans, still with the bitterness on their lips from a draw that was difficult for Barcelona to digest – it’s because they know that I do my job well.” He then recalled how he lived his last two months, when his name passed from the lips of Hansi Flick to that of Luis de la Fuente, both of whom disagreed over the management of Lamine’s minutes. “There was a lot of talk about my groin pain, that I was too sad, but I was the same as always. I was focused on what I did and tried to play at this level, and that’s how I feel better and have the best time,” underlined the Barcelona striker.
In any case, Lamine caused a sensation not only in the sports press, but also in the crime press. His eventful and high-profile relationship with Argentine singer Nicki Nicole has ended. A break that they celebrate in the City of Sports of Barcelona. “We’re not sure it did Lamine any good,” they argued. Beyond his personal conflict, the number 10 also needed to purge his behavior in the classic chatterbox in the preview, silent at the Bernabéu. “He is very intelligent, he knows perfectly well what he did right and what he did wrong. He learned”, they warned those around him. An attitude that is confirmed by Ciudad Deportiva. “He is usually the best in all training sessions, but in the last few days he has been very active. He wanted to raise the pace”, explain sources in the sports area. Lamine scored in the win against Elche, and then saved Barça in Bruges.
The problem for Flick is that he only had Lamine. And this is a lot for Barcelona, but it is not enough. Less in the Champions League. “It’s positive that Lamine played a good game, but we have to talk about many things,” the Barcelona coach said.
And the things that Flick ensures that we need to talk about have been talked about for some time in the sports field: “Matches are not won by the bravest, but by the most intelligent.” But the German coach, always with his ears closed to external noises, also remains deaf to internal noises. “We can talk about changing everything, but I’m not a coach who makes these types of changes. We want to play according to our DNA, we don’t want to defend with low blocks and win 1-0 in transition”, defended the German. His statement in the press room was curious: no one had attacked him. The message then had other recipients.
Flick has been balancing politics at Barcelona for some time: he cried foul when Rashford wasn’t registered, he frowned at the mess of the return to the Camp Nou and he gave in to internal disputes in the medical department. He also suffers from conflicting opinions in the management of the dressing room; There are those who argue that he is too protective of Lamine, while others argue that he is the only one trying to control an ego that risks becoming uncontrollable. “You have to focus on the effort,” the coach released publicly.
Lamine already seems to remember Lamine. Flick’s Barça, however, seems to have forgotten Flick’s Barça. Pressure doesn’t work, nor does recovery after a loss. Few weaknesses manifest themselves more than the offside problem, without a guiding voice since Iñigo Martínez left.
Eric García’s good level is not enough to erase the Basque central defender’s mark, especially after Koundé, Cubarsí and Balde dropped in level. Not even the good level of the duo formed by Pedri (now injured) and De Jong works to control the games. Barcelona, blow for blow, misses Raphinha and Lewandowski, and Lamine remains alone. Flick knows this, but for now he can’t find solutions.
