How will Lamine Yamal approach his recovery?

BarcelonaAfter a capital victory on the always difficult Getafe pitch (0-2), Hansi Flick gave his disciples three days off. The Barça coach has taken advantage of the break to spend a few days in Germany with his family. Dani Olmo, Joan Garcia and Eric Garcia needed less warm clothing, as they decided to rent a small boat and splash around in a corner of the Costa Brava. While his teammates were enjoying a well-deserved decompression time, Lamine Yamal began to focus on recovering from the first muscular injury he has suffered as a footballer. He suffered it shortly before halftime during Celta's visit to the Camp Nou a week ago. He had to be substituted just after converting the penalty that sealed the goal for a narrow victory (1-0). When he shot from eleven meters, he was already injured. The biceps femoris of his left leg had had enough when he was dribbling past Yoel Lago in the play that Munuera Montero punished with a penalty kick.

The next day's medical tests at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper confirmed the diagnosis that everyone saw clearly following the first examination by Dr. Ricard Pruna in the Camp Nou dressing room itself. Lamine Yamal said goodbye to the last six league matches, but he breathed easy because his participation in the World Cup was not in danger. In fact, Barça reflected this in its statement with the approval of the attacker from Mataró, who wanted to make it clear to the blaugrana fans and the Spanish national team that he would be ready to be one of the main attractions of the planetary event that will take place in less than two months in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Even so, there is fine print associated with it that will have to be taken into account to avoid jeopardizing the health of a body that is still in its growing years. Hamstring injuries are experts at playing tricks, and if not treated with care and patience, they can be subject to relapse. Pedri or Raphinha, for example, know this well.

If Lamine Yamal had suffered the same injury without the World Cup around the corner, the time off established and publicized for his recovery would have been approximately a month and a half. But as the calendar is what it is, all parties have decided to be cautious with the deadlines, to the point that it is most likely that the footballer will not have a leading role in the first two theoretically winnable group stage matches against Cape Verde and Saudi Arabia, scheduled for June 15 and 21. On the one hand, Barça wants to prevent the footballer from falling into the relapse loop that is so common in muscle injuries, which would condition his performance for the start of next season. And, on the other hand, Luis de la Fuente and his staff, who last fall pushed Lamine Yamal during his groin problems, are now in favor of waiting for him 100% for the knockout matches. In other words, the Spanish coach expects to get through the less demanding group stage without needing the best version of the young Catalan star.

Lamine Yamal aims for the second round

In fact, in Las Rozas they will let Barça define and monitor Lamine Yamal's recovery plan. Unlike what happens with Raphinha, who has trusted trainers and took more than a week to put himself in the hands of the blaugrana professionals to treat his last injury, the Maresme native will spend most of the time in Sant Joan Despí, but under the supervision of Raúl Martínez and Fernando Galán, two physios who work for Barça and at the same time for the RFEF. In fact, the idea is that he does not join la rojaroja during the first call-up set by De la Fuente, at the beginning of June, but rather wait another week and join the players selected for the World Cup who participate in the Champions League final, such as David Raya, Martín Zubimendi, Christian Mosquera and Mikel Merino (Arsenal), Fabián Ruiz (PSG) or Marcos Llorente (Atlético de Madrid). This second group of footballers would join the training camp directly in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the expedition will be based for the duration of the World Cup.