'Not good' - Hansi Flick provides worrying update on Barcelona wonderkid Lamine Yamal's injury and availability for upcoming El Clasico

After featuring for Spain in the September international break, Yamal missed three weeks of club football due to a groin problem. He returned to action against Real Sociedad in La Liga, where he appeared in the second half and then played the full 90 minutes against PSG in the Champions League. However, following the European clash, Yamal felt discomfort in his pubic area once again and now the club has confirmed he will miss the next 2-3 weeks of action.

Flick was quizzed on Yamal's fitness at a pre-match press conference on Saturday and feels that Yamal could be set for even longer on the sidelines. Speaking to reporters, the German coach said: "I spoke with him today, it's better but it's not good. This is the situation with Lamine. With this injury, it's not so easy to know [when he will return]. It's not easy to say 'OK he can play in two, three or four weeks...' or if he's able to play the Clásico. This is not possible. We have to wait. We must manage his load. He trains with the recovery team and [spend] the next weeks with them. We go step by step. We have to see how the evolution is."

After Yamal picked up the injury on national duty, Flick accused Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente of "not taking care" of the teenager. The German manager has now defended his earlier comment by saying: "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."

Yamal won't be linking up with the Spain national team for their World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria later this month. He will also miss Barcelona's upcoming clashes against Sevilla, Girona and Olympiacos. It now remains to be seen if the winger will fully recover in the next three weeks and take the field against Los Blancos.