Lamine Yamal heading for club vs country row as Barcelona aim to block Spain call-up as injury saga continues

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Barcelona are reportedly planning to block Lamine Yamal from being called up by Spain for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria as the fallout from the forward’s recent groin injury continues. The Blaugrana were incensed after discovering the 18-year-old aggravated the issue by taking painkillers to play in his country’s international double header earlier this month.

Barcelona planning to play Yamal against PSG and Sevilla this week

In a report from Catalan publication ARA, Barcelona are reportedly looking to prevent Yamal from linking up with Spain for their international double-header against Georgia and Bulgaria on October 11 and October 14 respectively. The report claims that Hansi Flick’s side are planning to play Yamal, who returned from his groin complaint in Sunday’s La Liga victory over Real Sociedad, in their games against Paris Saint-Germain and Sevilla this week, before making it clear he is unavailable to represent Spain next month.

Levante UD v FC Barcelona - LaLiga EA Sports

Flick was seething after learning Yamal took painkillers for Spain

The report follows Barcelona being left incensed after discovering Yamal had taken painkillers to play in Spain’s World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Turkey earlier this month. The teenage sensation, who was already carrying the groin problem when he joined up with Luis de la Fuente’s national side, subsequently aggravated the injury and therefore missed Barcelona’s La Liga matches against Valencia, Getafe and Real Oviedo. Yamal also missed his side’s Champions League opener against Newcastle.

Barcelona boss Flick was unable to hide his frustration when confirming Yamal would miss the game against Valencia on September 14, telling reporters: "Lamine Yamal will not be available. He went with the national team in pain and did not train. They gave him painkillers to play. They had at least a three-goal lead in every match, and he played 73 minutes and 79, and between matches he couldn't train. That is not taking care of the player. I am very sad about this.”

Barcelona and Spain have been warned about the handling of Yamal

While the saga surrounding Yamal’s fitness looks set to rage on, both Barcelona and Spain have been warned about their handling of the wonderkid. Footballers’ union FIFPRO published a report on Monday which highlighted the excessive workload placed on Yamal following his remarkable breakthrough as a 15-year-old in 2023. According to FIFPRO’s report, Yamal has made 130 appearances by the age of 18, with Barcelona legend Andres Iniesta - a man who eventually made 674 appearances for the club - having only made 40 by that age.

Footballers' union FIFPRO highlight 'alarming' Yamal workload

In quotes carried by the Daily Mail, Darren Burgess - chair of FIFPRO's high-performance advisory network - said of the study: “It’s certainly alarming. To expose them [players up to the age of 24 and 25] to excessive load at that time is almost certainly to expose them to greater injury risk.”

And via FIFPRO’s published report, Burgess added: "Growth plates, tendons, and ligaments remain vulnerable during these years, and excessive high-speed running or short recovery windows can lead to long-term structural damage. The psychological toll should also not be underestimated.”

FC Barcelona v Real Sociedad - LaLiga EA Sports

Yamal made excellent start to 2025-26 La Liga season before injury

Yamal made his eagerly-awaited return from injury as a second-half substitute in Barcelona’s win over Sociedad at the weekend. The winger emerged from the bench to set up Robert Lewandowski for what turned out to be the all-important goal en route to victory. Before sustaining his groin injury, Yamal had made an excellent start to the 2025-26 campaign, recording two goals and two assists across Barcelona’s opening three league fixtures against Mallorca, Levante and Rayo Vallecano.

Barcelona and Yamal preparing for testing week against PSG and Sevilla

Yamal and Barcelona are gearing up for what is expected to be a testing week ahead of the international break. Flick’s men entertain reigning champions PSG in the Champions League, having won their opening fixture against Newcastle, before travelling to Sevilla in the league on Sunday. The Spanish champions currently sit top of La Liga on 19 points, one ahead of fierce rivals Real Madrid, having made an unbeaten start to the defence of their title.