Lamimine Yamal was excluded from the opening of the Barcelona Champions League against Newcastle United Thursday after failing to recover from a time injury in time.
Yamal, 18, went to the international break last week by managing pain and took pain relievers to appear in the qualifications of Spain in the World Cup against Bulgaria and Turkey.
He was then forced to miss the 6-0 victory from Laliga du Barça against Valence last weekend and did not take training this week.
Consequently, he was not appointed to the team that flies to Newcastle on Wednesday.
“For me, it’s a shame he doesn’t play,” Newcastle manager Eddie Howe said on Wednesday. “I am disappointed that we did not see it in his best game in the game.”
Midfielder Gavi and the rear left Alejandro Balde are also missing with injuries, but Frenkie de Jong was authorized to return to the action.
Yamal’s injury was a reason for conflict between Barça and Spain, club coach Hansi Flick accusing Red not to take care of their young players.
Yamal had started the season well, scoring two goals and going up two more in the first three games of Laliga.
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He also helped three goals during his two appearances in Spain last week.
With Yamal missing, Flick is likely to choose three of four from Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Ferran Torres and Marcus Rashford to start attacking St. James’ Park this week.
“Whoever they play, they have a real rhythm in large areas, we know it,” added Howe. “They have international players who will challenge us in different ways, so I think that structurally, the performance of our team must be very strong, we must defend in large regions, so we are impatiently awaiting this battle.”
After reaching the semi-final last season, where they lost to Inter Milan, the Spanish champions of Barça are considering a first trophy in the Champions League since 2015 this year.
AP information was used in this report.
