Yamal’s second lay-off is the latest chapter in an ongoing dispute between club and country about care of the young player, who has scored two goals and made four assists in five Barcelona appearances this season.
“Spain, they have the best team in the world, best players in the world,” Barcelona manager Hansi Flick said after Yamal was first ruled out.
“So, maybe they will also want to take care of our players, our young players, but it’s like they are doing this [to them].”
When asked about the criticism on Friday, Spain manager Luis de la Fuente denied that there was any conflict between them, but said he “was surprised by the German manager’s comments, given that [Flick] is a manager who has also coached a national team and I thought he would have had more empathy”.