'He was in perfect condition!' - Barcelona's injury war with Spain continues as Luis de la Fuente makes contradictory claim about Dani Olmo

Olmo joined the Spain squad after featuring for Barcelona in their 4-1 drubbing at the hands of Sevilla in La Liga last weekend. Olmo spent the week with the squad but did not train due to feeling discomfort in his left calf. According to Mundo Deportivo, the situation worsened on Friday, a day before Spain's World Cup qualifying clash against Georgia, which led manager De La Fuente to omit the Barca star from the matchday squad. Despite Olmo's absence, the reigning European champions comfortably clinched the clash 2-0, thanks to goals from Yeremy Pino and Mikel Oyarzabal. 

After the game, De La Fuente said that Olmo has been released from the national team after a careful assessment of his condition. The team doctors felt that Olmo would not be able to regain full fitness ahead of their second game on the trot against Georgia on Tuesday. As a result, the Blaugrana has been allowed to head back to his club, where he will further receive treatment from their medical staff. 

On the eve of the Georgia clash, RFEF officially released a statement on Olmo's injury, which read: "FC Barcelona player arrived at the training camp last Monday with signs of muscle fatigue, as reported by the club. Since then, the symptoms have gradually improved with treatment and training regimens. Therefore, today, the forward was scheduled to participate exclusively in a portion of the scheduled training session where he reported muscle discomfort in his left leg."

Spain coach De La Fuente also provided an update on Olmo's condition, although his statement was contradictory to what the RFEF had informed about the injury. Speaking to reporters, after the Georgia clash, the 64-year-old said: "Dani was in perfect condition; there was no medical report, and he simply had a minor discomfort. He hadn't trained all week, thinking his progress would be better, but eventually the discomfort worsened, and we decided, for his health and safety, that he should leave the training camp, knowing that he was unlikely to be back for Tuesday. If we had been certain he could be back without risk, as we always do, he would have stayed."

This is not the first time this season that a Barcelona player has been injured while on national duty. During the September international break, Lamine Yamal picked up a knock, which continues to affect the winger and forced him onto the sidelines. At the time of the incident, Barca boss Hansi Flick had accused De la Fuente of "not taking care" of the teenager, as he said: "I want to protect my player, support him, this is what it is. A lot of things happened. This is, for me, done. I have no bad things about this situation. I know it from the other side. It's not easy for me. It's not easy for [De la Fuente]. I must protect my player; this is the reason I made it a little louder than normally I want to do it. I don't regret this. Now, the important thing is managing this together. The players, the clubs and the Spanish Federation [RFEF]. We have to manage it together."

De La Fuente responded by saying: "Do you think that today, in my homeland, and enjoying this moment, I'd remember what Hansi Flick said? Well, no, I'm not interested."

Olmo will now head back to Barcelona, where the club medical team will conduct further tests to determine the seriousness of the injury and how much time he will miss. The knock comes as a further blow for the reigning Spanish champions, who are already plagued with a number of injuries, including Yamal, ahead of the all-important El Clasico later this month.