Lamine Yamal injury: Barcelona confirm timeline of youngster injury 

Lamine Yamal injury during Barcelona’s defeat to Leganes will see the young forward miss up to a month, the club has confirmed.

Despite heading into the match as favourites, Barcelona suffered a shock 1-0 defeat to Leganes. Yamal who received his 2024 Golden Boy award before the match was replaced in the 75th minutes despite signalling to the bench during the first half that he wanted to be substituted.

Tests have now confirmed that the Euro 2024 winner has suffered fresh ligament damage to his ankle, with a timeline of “three to four weeks” put on his recovery.

Coach Hansi Flick was criticised for not making the change sooner, but assistant Marcus Sorg, who was on the touchline in Flick’s place while the latter served a suspension, insisted that the decision to continue was Yamal’s.

“Lamine decided that he was fine and could continue playing. I cannot say that he is fine, we will have to wait for the medical team to examine him,” Sorg told reporters.

It was the first time this season that Barcelona have lost a La Liga game that Yamal has started, highlighting his importance even at such a young age.

Yamal will miss Saturday’s tough test against fellow title hopefuls Atletico Madrid but will benefit from Spanish football’s winter break as he looks to recover as soon as possible.

The 17-year-old is likely to be back in action in 2025 when Barcelona travel to Saudi Arabia for the Supercopa de Espana, where they will face Athletic Club in a semi-final, before a potential final against Real Madrid or Mallorca.