Physical Address
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Scorer in La Liga for the first time since August, Lamine Yamal has not yet convinced everyone against Elche (3-1) on Sunday evening.
Barça needed this victory. Early Sunday evening, Hansi Flick’s men had to forget the defeat in the Clasico and overcome Elche. A question of image, of pride, but above all of points, since with its 4-0 victory against Valencia, Real Madrid had provisionally taken an 8-point lead at the top of La Liga. No room for error therefore, and the Catalans responded (3-1).
Some players also had to show a much better face than during the duel against the sworn enemy. Obviously, all eyes were on Lamine Yamal, author of a particularly disappointing Clasico, not helped by his pubalgia. And the match started very well for the Blaugrana number 10, since in the 9th minute of play, taking advantage of a recovery then a good serve from Baldé, he opened the scoring. A nice goal, with nice control followed by a powerful and well-placed shot. Enough to calm things down and the criticisms that fall on him? Not really…
For many observers, it was clearly not a great match for Lamine Yamal, despite his goal. “We saw that he had desires for revenge, but they were not yet entirely accompanied by his physical level. In this situation, in the second half, he should have understood that in the absence of the ability to make the difference, he would have better helped the team helping him to control the match,” explains Mundo Deportivo for example, although he is usually quite lenient and kind to the player. “I felt it slow. He hardly participated in the game, and certain actions could have earned him a substitute. In the 15th minute of the second period, he lost two consecutive balls, and one ended with Mir’s shot on the bar which could have made it 2-2,” explained consultant and coach Jorge D’Alessandro on the set of El Chiringuito de Jugones.
AS specifies that in 88 minutes on the pitch, Lamine Yamal only completed 2 dribbles. Far from his usual standards. “He’s not the player of last season yet. He intervened 41 times in the match and only achieved 70.8% successful passes. Out of five dribbles, two were successful,” indicates the newspaper, while on the side of Cadena SER, we do not fully understand Barça’s management with the player, although physically diminished. “Lamine Yamal, in a period where he is not well, played 88 minutes against Elche, 90 against Real Madrid, 64 against Girona and 75 against Olympiakos while they led 6-1,” launched journalist Anton Meana, who does not understand why Flick does not rest his player more. All this, against the backdrop of conflict with the Spanish selection, Barça believing that Luis de la Fuente pulled too hard with the Barcelona nugget. Facing Bruges on Wednesday in the Champions League, Lamine Yamal will have another opportunity to silence everyone. Or at least, to try.