Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Las Palmas means that it is now three winless matches in a row for Barcelona. At one stage, Hansi Flick’s side had a nine-point lead over Real Madrid, but should the defending champions win their two games in hand, the Catalans would drop to second in La Liga.
The common trend in these three matches is that Lamine Yamal has not been a starter. The 17-year-old sensation missed out altogether against Real Sociedad and Celta Vigo because of injury, while he could only start from the bench against Las Palmas.
Furthermore, he also did not start in the other La Liga match that Barcelona did not win, which was a 4-2 defeat to Osasuna. As per Sport, Flick’s side have won every fixture that the teenager has started, but failed to win any in which he hasn’t.
It shows that Barcelona are reliant on Lamine Yamal, and especially more so than they thought.
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