Barcelona ‘can do as it pleases’, says Spanish journalist after Lamine Yamal absence

Spanish journalist Paul Tenorio has questioned the Spanish Football Federation’s handling of Barcelona after Lamine Yamal remained with the club to continue recovering from a knee injury instead of travelling with the national team to Prague.

Speaking on the La Tribu programme on Radio Marca, Tenorio linked the decision to the relationship between Barcelona president Joan Laporta and federation president Rafael Louzan. He suggested that the club has considerable freedom when dealing with situations involving its players.

“The relationship between Laporta and Louzan is excellent,” Tenorio said. “They do as they please.”

The discussion centred on Yamal, who finished Barcelona’s match against Atletico Madrid with pain in his right knee. Following medical tests, the Spanish Football Federation announced that the 16-year-old would stay in Barcelona to continue his recovery and would not join the squad for the trip to the Czech capital.

Spain won 2-0 against Czech Republic in Prague, with Yamal and Real Sociedad forward Mikel Oyarzabal both missing from the match.

After the victory, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente said the two players would join the rest of the squad before the team’s next fixture against England at Metropolitano.

Oyarzabal’s absence had initially been attributed by the federation to flu, with the player having been left behind when the squad travelled to Prague. De la Fuente offered a different explanation after the win, saying the forward had missed the journey because he was celebrating the birth of his child.

The manager added that Oyarzabal would join up with the group alongside Yamal ahead of the meeting with England.

Tenorio also compared Barcelona’s situation with that of Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappe, who joined the French squad despite experiencing hamstring pain.

He said clubs put pressure on their players to avoid giving their maximum effort while away with their countries, adding that players often respond to those demands. His comments referred to the influence clubs can have over the international involvement of their footballers.

Mbappe remained with France, although manager Zinedine Zidane decided to rest him for the match against Italy because of the hamstring problem. Zidane expects the forward to be ready for France’s game against Turkey.