FC Barcelona has suffered another setback with the club confirming on Monday that Spain international winger Lamine Yamal has suffered an ankle injury that will keep him out of action for almost a month.
The 17-year-old suffered the injury in the first half of his side's shock 1-0 defeat at home to Leganes on Sunday night, and although he was visibly struggling at the break, he struggled on until the 75th minute, before finally being replaced by Gavi.
Lamine Yamal (C) of Barcelona shoots during the Spanish La Liga football match between FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol in Barcelona, Spain, Nov. 3, 2024. (Photo by Joan Gosa/Xinhua)
"The first team player Lamine Yamal received a blow to the right ankle during the game against CD Leganes on Sunday. Tests carried out on Monday have revealed that the player has a grade 1 injury to the anterior tibiofibular ligament in the ankle. The player is expected to be out for three to four weeks," informs the official Barcelona website.
The injury has happened two weeks after Yamal returned to action after missing three weeks in November with another injury on the same ankle, making him unavailable for Spain in the last international break and also seeing him miss three games for his club.
He will now miss next weekend's vital La Liga game at home to Atletico Madrid (who is now level on points with Barca at the top of La Liga), along with the Copa del Rey third round tie away to lower league Barbastro on January 4, the Spanish Supercup semifinal against Athletic Bilbao in Jeddah (and possibly the final) and will be a doubt for Barca's visit to a complicated Getafe on January 19.
Sunday's defeat means that Barcelona has taken just five points from its last six matches in La Liga and failure to beat Atletico Madrid next weekend will almost certainly see it lose the league leadership.