Lamine Yamal could now give Barcelona the same problem they had with Lionel Messi | OneFootball

Suffering a defeat right before the international break was something that FC Barcelona definitely did not have in their plans. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened in their most recent La Liga encounter against Real Sociedad. While Barcelona still have a six point lead at the top of the table, there is no telling just how crucial even a single point could end up being.

As for the game itself, it was a combination of different things that ultimately resulted in the final scoreline. A poor showing from Barcelona, coupled with an excellent outing for La Real in front of their own home fans at the Reale Arena, were two of the major reasons behind Barça’s defeat.

Another key factor that resulted in this display was the absence of Lamine Yamal himself. The 17-year-old winger, despite his age, has become a crucial part of Hansi Flick’s team and the entire structure struggled without him as he is currently sidelined for two to three weeks before he can end up returning.

According to AS, however, there is a certain conversation that is being built up and could soon become more apparent than it already is. Lamine Yamal, in terms of his impact and importance to this Barcelona team, could end up giving the Catalan giants the exact same problem they faced with having Lionel Messi in the team as well.

In the past, wherever La Blaugrana would stumble in games without the Argentinian player being involved, there would be a lot of noise and complaints about the club being too dependant on Lionel Messi. That era of dependency was something that managers had to deal with, and they even admitted to it most of the time.

With Yamal, however, there is a certain sense of pride that could be lost by admitting that the entire team is fully dependent on the availability of a teenage winger. For Hansi Flick, however, there was more to the defeat than just Yamal not being there:

“It’s natural to miss Lamine. He’s a player of great quality, no doubt. It would be easy to make excuses for his absence, but we’re not going to do that. We didn’t make the best decisions, that’s all.”

However, it would be a straight denial of the truth if Yamal’s importance to this team is not accepted. Even when referring to the recent game against Real Sociedad, AS highlights how Yamal’s impact could have been crucial even beyond just goals and assists. Similarly, they also ended up losing to CA Osasuna when Yamal did not start in that game as well.

While he is the leading assist provider in La Liga and one of the most productive players there, Yamal’s influence goes beyond just goal contributions. His dribbling, his vision, and his ability to connect with his teammates are all valuable assets, and his mere presence often attracts more than just one defender towards him.

Consequently, that tends to open up spaces for his other teammates and helps Barcelona look as unstoppable as they have looked all season. Without him, however, it became rather easy for a well-drilled Real Sociedad team to isolate and win duels over Hansi Flick’s Barcelona side.