Lamine Yamal injury poses Hansi Flick dilemma for key Atletico Madrid match

Against Leganes, Lamine Yamal was replaced in the 75th minute. The player suffered discomfort after medical tests carried out after the match confirmed that he had injured his right ankle. He will be out for three to four weeks.

Two of those four weeks will be part of La Liga’s Christmas break, so he won’t miss too many games, but that comes ahead of the toughest test before the break: the visit of Atletico Madrid.

Diego Simeone’s team is one of the direct rivals of Hansi Flick’s team in the fight for the championship title. They are tied on 38 points and, although the Madrid team has a game in hand, a victory would allow Barcelona to stay at the top of the table even if Atletico win this match.

Barça is experiencing a drop in results in La Liga which contrasts with its form in the Champions League. They have taken just five points from the last 18 available in the league and the drop has come against opponents who should be relatively easy for them.

In this context, Flick must deal with the structural absence of Yamal in one of the most delicate moments of the season. How to replace the 17-year-old striker?

“We have to accept the injury and the fact that he cannot play, another player will play in his place. We have options in mind, but we haven’t yet made a decision on who will play,” Flick said in the pre-match press conference, the last he will give in 2024 as he has to serve a additional match suspension for the red card he received against Real Betis.

Although Yamal’s absence worries the coach (the team hasn’t won a league game this season without him on the field), the coach has several options. The two that seem most likely are Ferran Torres and Fermin Lopez.

When Yamal was injured in November, Lopez was used, partly because at the time Torres was recovering from an injury and did not return until November 30. Today, “the shark” is in good form: he has scored four goals in the last five games, including two decisive ones in the 3-2 victory against Borussia Dortmund.

Although Torres has played as a center forward in recent games in place of Robert Lewandowski, his natural position is as a right winger. He has become the perfect understudy, but he could have the opportunity to show that he can also be the perfect starter against an opponent as big as Atletico.

While he’s not always a guarantee in terms of finishing, he can help bring an intensity that the team lacked last month.

Lopez is the other viable option, the one Flick used the most when Yamal couldn’t play. Although he is not a player who is going to give you depth as he is a midfielder and not a striker, he is comfortable playing in tight spaces between the lines. He also easily enters the opposing area.

Another option would be to put Raphinha, who was one of the big surprises of the season, in Yamal’s place and play Dani Olmo as left winger. This is an alternative that Flick has tried on occasion. But Olmo’s performance level has declined in recent matches.

The Brazilian, however, seems to be the least realistic solution. Flick doesn’t want to bet on the last big test of 2024 and will go all out, and Raphinha has proven to be a guarantor on the left wing where Alejandro Balde combines the good games with the bad. They say that if something works, it’s better not to touch it, so it seems very likely that the chosen one will be Lopez or Torres.

Barcelona’s last big game took place in Dortmund, and there the hero was Torres. This would leave the Valencian, who Flick has tested in training in recent days, in a better position. Even though he hasn’t always been the chosen one – and you might think that’s because Flick doesn’t fully trust him for this role – you also have to keep in mind that he’s been injured until now. ‘a month and a half ago.

Regardless of Flick’s choice, Saturday’s match against Atletico will be the final barometer before 2025 arrives and Barca’s way of staying ahead in the title race after what he called a ” s*** November”, a series of shapes that extended into December.

(Top photo: Sebastian Widmann – UEFA via Getty Images)