Lamine Yamal missed Barcelona training on Tuesday and is a major doubt to face Newcastle United in the team’s Champions League opener on Thursday.
Yamal, 18, sat out Sunday’s 6-0 win against Valencia in LaLiga after aggravating a groin problem during the international break with Spain.
The forward has not trained with his teammates since, but he was at the training ground on Tuesday to do some individual work as he focuses on returning to action as soon as possible.
Barça coach Hansi Flick rallied against Spain’s handling of the situation, urging them to take more care with their young players.
Flick revealed that Yamal had been unable to train while with the national team due to the issue and received pain killers to feature in the World Cup qualifying wins over Bulgaria and Turkey.
Yamal had started the season in fine form, registering two goals and two assists in his first three LaLiga outings and another three assists in his two Spain appearances.
Meanwhile, Barça will also be without midfielder Gavi and left-back Alejandro Balde for this week’s trip to St. James’ Park.
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Balde is still recovering from a hamstring problem, while Gavi has not featured since before the international break due to an injury to the meniscus in his knee.
However, Frenkie de Jong, who also missed the Valencia game, has returned to training and is expected to travel to Newcastle with the rest of the squad on Wednesday.
Barça’s next LaLiga game is on Sunday, at home to Getafe, followed by a trip to newly promoted Real Oviedo next Thursday.
