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September 26, 2024

Barcelona Prioritizes Lamine Yamal’s Protection as Winning Streak Continues – La Liga

As La Liga leaders with a perfect record, Barcelona is focused on managing its young winger, Lamine Yamal, amid a growing injury crisis. Coach Hansi Flick was forewarned about the challenges of facing Getafe. “They told me this was typical in Getafe games,” he reflected after Wednesday night’s match, which turned out to be more of an endurance test than an entertaining fixture.

Despite the midweek grind and the pressing nature of the season—now at matchday seven with another round to follow before the end of September—Barcelona emerged unscathed, maintaining their position at the top of the table. They preserved their 100% record, extending their lead to four points, even as the squad dealt with mounting injuries. With only a handful of players available, celebrating this achievement was a welcome relief.

Meanwhile, 102 kilometers north, Girona and Rayo Vallecano played to a 0-0 stalemate, though a dog made a memorable pre-game appearance. The night before, in Valencia, Osasuna’s manager Vicente Moreno acknowledged that both teams were content to share the points in another scoreless match. This starkly contrasted Osasuna’s previous outings, where they had netted five, four, and seven goals in their last three league matches yet managed only one against Barcelona.

Ultimately, Robert Lewandowski’s seventh goal of the season, gifted to him by Getafe goalkeeper David Soria’s failed catch, proved crucial. Getafe had a golden opportunity to equalize in the match’s dying seconds. Still, Borja Mayoral nearly whiffed on the chance to score their first La Liga goal from open play. Barça midfielder Eric García summed it up perfectly post-match with a simple, “Pfff.”

Sixty-three seconds before the final whistle blew, Barcelona secured their safety. “It was,” admitted Alex Balde, “a big scare.” It wasn’t the only moment of concern, but they had persevered. Passing Balde as he spoke was Lamine Yamal, who, despite still being just 17 and not yet a man, had once again been named man of the match. This time, however, Yamal, who had been directly involved in nine goals over the first eight games of the season, didn’t score or provide an assist. He hit the bar and forced a brilliant save from Getafe’s goalkeeper, David Soria. Nevertheless, he played the full 90 minutes for the sixth consecutive match, a testament to his endurance—even though he was limping off the pitch. That alone was a significant achievement.

Barcelona entered this match with a 5-1 victory over Villarreal fresh in their minds, but they did so at a cost. There was an underlying fear that loomed more significant than ever this week. Marc-André ter Stegen suffered a torn patellar tendon, sidelining him for the rest of the season. 

This left Iñaki Peña to step up while the club scrambled to bring in a new goalkeeper, even approaching the retired Wojciech Szczesny, who now lives in Marbella. Beyond the emotional impact of losing Ter Stegen—an integral player—there were other concerns; he was the eighth player out due to injury. Ronald Araújo, Frenkie de Jong, Gavi, Andreas Christensen, Dani Olmo, Fermín López, and Marc Bernal were all also sidelined, some for the long term. As El País’s Rafael Cabeleira quipped, “At this rate, Laporta’s going to get injured too.”

Barcelona has faced injury woes before. Pedri, at just 18, played 73 games during the 2021-22 season, representing Spain in both the Euros and the Olympics. Gavi was injured the day after Spain’s coach, Luis de la Fuente, remarked, “Good players never rest,” a comment that later came back to haunt him. Fermín, at 21, attended both the Euros and the Olympics and returned from vacation only to get hurt. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Bernal suffered a cruciate ligament tear against Rayo.

While there was relief that Lamine Yamal managed to avoid the fate of Pedri and Fermín by not overextending himself this summer, anger simmered over the fact that such a possibility had ever existed. Anxiety surrounds Yamal, a palpable awareness of his vulnerability and a duty of care for someone so young. He is just 17, after all. It’s difficult not to feel that this incredible run could come crashing down at any moment. Ansu Fati serves as a cautionary tale: a once-promising young talent felled by injuries.

This week, the sense of urgency was particularly pronounced. Rodri’s injury resonated throughout the league, especially since he had been vocal about the immense demands placed on players. It was a cruel twist of fate that he, the one warning others, would be the one sidelined for the season. In the two matches featuring goals this midweek, further injury concerns arose, including significant setbacks for Saúl Ñíguez at Sevilla and Kylian Mbappé at Real Madrid.

Lamine Yamal had barely rested, having spent only 14 minutes on the bench all season. Just this past weekend, he endured a couple of brutal tackles from Villarreal in the final 10 minutes, if one could even call them tackles. Now, he faced Getafe—the notorious villains of football, often regarded as the dirtiest team in the league.

While the stereotype of Getafe as a rough-and-tumble team may be exaggerated, it’s challenging to overlook the facts: they rank second in the league for most fouls committed, and their matches feature the least ball-in-play time. Given these circumstances, many felt it was the perfect moment to rest Lamine Yamal. However, Flick countered with a firm belief: “I tell Lamine, champions don’t rest.”

Not when you’re performing at such a high level. Every point is crucial, and every match is a battle—this is the crux of the situation. With eight players already sidelined and a 25-year-old backup goalkeeper in place of the former captain, doubts loom large. Pedri was also forced to start on the bench, as Flick deemed this a “hard” match in which Fati couldn’t afford to miss out on valuable minutes.

“Getafe are the guest who just won’t leave, their visits tedious, heavy going and never ending,” Santi Giménez wrote in AS. “And when they finally do, you find that they’ve taken all your cutlery,.” Early on, Carles Pérez had a great chance which went straight at Peña: “Heading is not my strong point,” he said after. That was their only effort on target but one last, glorious chance fell to Mayoral. “The last move was screwed up,”

García said. “We had a couple of chances to kill it and in the end you almost get a fright, but we got the three points and that was the most important thing.” It was done, seven wins from seven. “I’m proud of my players,” said Flick. Tired, Lamine Yamal smoothed his hair, pushed down his socks, and made his way toward the tunnel. He was still standing, but he was moving slowly now.

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