The return of teenage sensation Lamine Yamal to Barcelona’s starting XI following an injury layoff inspired the team to its 5-1 thrashing of Mallorca, manager Hansi Flick said on Tuesday.
During Yamal’s four-week absence with an ankle injury, leader Barcelona picked up only one point in three La Liga matches, allowing the chasing pack led by Real Madrid to close the gap at the top to just one point.
The emphatic win on Tuesday at Mallorca finally ended its three-match winless streak and Flick was quick to flag up the impact Yamal has on the side.
“Today (Yamal) was very important for us, he always generates positive things for the team,” Flick told Movistar Plus. He could have scored one or two goals today, he played very well.
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“Of course I am happy with the team performance. In the first half we had a lot of chances and we scored, but they equalised in a counter attack but we kept going. The entire team is happy with how things went tonight.”
Flick did not even need his star striker Robert Lewandowski to show up against Mallorca. The Polish striker, who is the top-scorer in LaLiga with 15 goals, was handed a rest day after starting all 20 of Barcelona’s previous matches in all competitions.
Lewandowski’s replacement Ferran Torres pounced on some sloppy defending by Mallorca to give the visitors an early lead with a clever strike. “Lewandowski needed to rest, we had to look after him,” Flick said.
“And Ferran (Torres) had a very good game and scored the first goal, it’s very important for him too. Whenever we need him, he’s always there. Today we didn’t need to play Lewandowski.”
Barca tops the standings on 37 points, four ahead of second-placed Real Madrid which has two games in hand. Atletico is third on 32 points and has one game in hand.
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