Barcelona’s teenage forward Lamine Yamal is expected to return from injury against Las Palmas in La Liga on Saturday, with the 2024 Golden Boy winner’s recovery providing a major boost for the leaders after two recent slip-ups.
On Wednesday, 17-year-old Yamal won the award given to the best European men’s player under 21 after a remarkable breakout season in which he became the youngest player to earn a winner’s medal at the Euros when Spain beat England 2-1 in the final.
He has continued that excellent form this season, with five goals and seven assists in 12 league games for Barca, which has keenly felt his absence in recent weeks due to an ankle injury.
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Barca’s six-point advantage over second-placed Real Madrid, which has a game in hand, has shrunk to four after a loss and draw in its last two league fixtures, which ended a seven-game winning streak in all competitions that started in October.
Its Champions League form has not dipped, however, and it cruised to a 3-0 win over Brest on Tuesday, after which coach Hansi Flick could be seen on the broadcast having an animated conversation with Yamal.
Asked what he said to the 17-year-old, Flick told reporters: “I can’t tell you what I have said to him. Only that I hope he will be with us on Saturday.
“I talk to the players, it’s normal. What we talk about is always between us. It had to do with tomorrow’s session and that maybe on Saturday he can play.”
Barcelona has an excellent record against Las Palmas and is unbeaten in its last 20 home league matches against the Canary Islands side. Las Palmas last won a La Liga game at Barca in 1971.
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