The timing was terrible. Just days after speaking out against the infernal pace of football’s stars, Rodri suffered a serious knee injury, and the Manchester City midfielder may not play again this season.
This episode could invite coaches to a certain form of caution, but this is clearly not the case for Hansi Flick. Even if this weekday of Liga is conducive to turnover, the FC Barcelona coach has no intention of giving rest to his nugget Lamine Yamal, already very used despite his 17 years.
Lamine Yamal plays enormously
“We have all the data of the players and at the moment he does not need rest, assured Flick about Lamine Yamal before Barça-Getafe on Wednesday evening. At the moment, everything is fine. He feels good. I don’t think he needs a rest (against Getafe). It’s also important, for a home game, to start with the best team.”
Lamine Yamal was a starter in Barça’s first 7 matches, in La Liga and the Champions League, and he only came off twice, at the end of the match. It was only with the Spanish national team that he was able to take a breather, being replaced at half-time in Switzerland in the Nations League. Last season, at just 16 years old, the Catalan prodigy played 47 matches in La Liga and the Champions League, including 29 as a starter. That’s considerable for a player of his age. And the series of injuries suffered by players like Pedri, Gavi and Ansu Fati, thrown into the deep end very early by Barça, clearly didn’t serve as a lesson.
