Yamal Sidelined Again With Groin Issue, To Miss Sevilla and Spain Duty

Barcelona and the Spanish national team find themselves grappling with fresh uncertainty after issuing confirmation that 18-year-old winger Lamine Yamal has re-aggravated a recurring groin injury, threatening both his availability for the upcoming La Liga clash with Sevilla and his place in Spain’s latest squad.

The injury blow, announced on Friday, comes at a critical juncture in a season where Yamal was regaining momentum, and has already stoked tensions between club and country over his management.

According to an official statement from Barcelona, “The discomfort in the pubic area that player Lamine Yamal has been experiencing has reappeared after the match against PSG. He will be out for the Sevilla game, and the estimated recovery time is 2-3 weeks.”

The club’s medical update makes it clear that Yamal’s participation in Sunday’s trip to Sevilla is off the table, and that he is unlikely to be fit in time for Spain’s World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria.

Hours before that announcement, Spain had named Yamal in their squad—a recall that was swiftly reversed once Barcelona confirmed the setback. The dramatic about-face underscores how delicate the situation has become.

In response to Barcelona’s claims, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente publicly insisted that his selection and medical decisions adhere to strict protocols. “Here, we take zero risks,” he said. “If a player comes in, he comes in healthy and fit to play… If he plays it means he is in playing condition.”

The fallout between club and nation is hardly new. Earlier in the season, Hansi Flick, the Barcelona manager, had taken aim at the Spanish federation’s handling of Yamal, accusing them of overexposing the young talent under borderline injury conditions. He said that asking a player “who arrived with pain, not training, to play more than 70 minutes” was not proper care.

De la Fuente responded defensively, expressing surprise that a manager who had himself coached a national side would lack “empathy” for international fitness management. “There is no conflict with Hansi, not at all,” de la Fuente stressed, even as he took aim at Flick’s public critique.

This injury recurrence places Yamal in a frustrating loop. Earlier in September, he had missed four matches due to the same groin and pubic discomfort, which many observers deemed a design flaw in his physical conditioning or management.

His return—appearing as a substitute against Real Sociedad before playing the full 90 minutes in a Champions League match against Paris Saint-Germain—had raised hopes that the issue was behind him. However, the fatigue and physical demands evidently re-triggered the same problem, reminding all of how fragile a young body can be under elite demands.

Should Yamal’s recovery stretch toward the upper end of the 2–3 week estimate, that would place his likely return just after the international break—potentially for Barcelona’s fixtures against Girona and Olympiacos, and perhaps in contention for El Clásico on October 26. But even that timeline rests on optimistic assumptions about rehabilitation.

The handling of Yamal’s fitness has become something of a flashpoint. Barcelona’s sporting director, Deco, has reportedly entered discussions with Spain’s football federation to improve communication in order to prevent such misalignments.

Beyond club versus country tensions, the episode raises broader questions about how top clubs and national associations should coordinate with regard to emerging talents who are more physically vulnerable to wear and tear.

In press conferences this week, De la Fuente has repeatedly defended Spain’s approach, arguing loudly that no player is ever forced into action under injury. “We don’t pick players who are carrying an injury,” he said when asked why Yamal was initially called up.

He also attempted to dismiss the critiques as misunderstandings between institutions. “I was just surprised by the comments he made,” he said of Flick. “I thought he would have empathy given he was a national coach” himself.