Given Spain’s recent successes, whether in A with Luis de la Fuente or with the various youth teams, one might think that among our neighbors, everyone works hand in hand for the good of national football. However, if there is one country where we have a real war zone behind the scenes, it is Spain. Between clashes between clubs and La Liga, clubs and Federation, Liga and Federation, war of egos between the main players in sport and much more, we have new controversies and new dramas almost every week.
This week, it is the turn, once again, of Barça and the Federation to be at the heart of the news. And for good reason, a new conflict exploded between the two parties because of Lamine Yamal. On Tuesday, the Federation published a resounding press release to complain about the fact that Barça had not communicated about a medical intervention undergone by the player, which prevents him from playing and therefore defending the colors of La Roja during this break. “We didn’t know he had problems”confirmed Luis de la Fuente in the evening. “You have to communicate. The relationship has to be good, and that hasn’t been the case.”he regretted, while Hansi Flick had tackled him during the October break because of his management of Lamine Yamal. The two men are expected to speak to each other in the coming hours to explain themselves.
Barça leads the charge
More and more, clubs are worried about the crazy pace their players have to face. And within club management and staff, these international breaks are experienced as real nightmares. They logically do not want to see their players – who are none other than their employees – get injured in the selection and then be unavailable for the club. It must be said that at Barça, we have had several unfortunate cases in recent years, like Gavi, seriously injured with La Roja at the end of 2023. Robert Lewandowski has just missed a month of competition after an injury with Poland during the October break. Clearly, it is war between Barça and the selection and the two parties are not doing – and will not give – each other any gifts.
All this, under the backdrop of conspiracy theory and preferential/disfavorable treatment depending on the club, since Nico Williams, who suffers from similar problems to Lamine Yamal, was not selected so that he could stay in Bilbao to rest. An injustice, in the eyes of Barça. And the Catalan club is far from being the only La Liga club on bad terms with La Roja, since at the start of the season, Athletic had railed against La Roja for Williams. This is also the case for Real Madrid, which has fewer representatives in the Spanish selection, but which saw Huijsen fall victim to muscle problems during the last break. If the subject of injuries is not necessarily the crux of the matter on the Merengue side, the latter have very often deplored the lack of Madrid players in the lists, accusing the various selectors who have succeeded one another of showing pro-Barça favoritism. The huge differences between the club and the Federation, concerning refereeing and the organization of matches in national competitions abroad in particular, have also added fuel to the fire in recent months. You will have understood, everything is a source of tension across the Pyrenees!
