How many games will Lamine Yamal miss for Barcelona?

Lamine Yamal’s 2024 has officially come to an end after Barcelona announced that the 17-year-old had suffered a Grade 1 ligament injury in his right ankle, which kept him out of action for three to four weeks.

On a day that began with jubilation as Yamal presented his recently won 2024 Golden Boy trophy to Barça fans at the Estadi Olímpic, Lluís Companys quickly grew angry. Leganes midfielder Yvan Neyou slipped to clear the ball but caught Yamal with his back leg and twisted his ankle awkwardly 16 minutes into the game.

The Barcelona winger lay on the ground and was visibly in pain as doctors examined him. Surprisingly, Yamal stayed in the game; However, he was clearly unwell, far from his best, and eventually made way for Gavi in ​​the 75th minute of a game that Barcelona lost 1-0.

Tests carried out on Monday revealed the extent of the injury and bad news continues to pile up for Barça, who are now struggling to stay at the top of La Liga and could be overtaken by both Atlético and Real Madrid, who still have a game to play have in front of you.

Hansi Flick will have to make do without one of his most valuable players in the new year.

Join the Si Soccer Barcelona WhatsApp community – get all the latest news and analysis straight to your phone

Yamal is expected to miss Barcelona’s next three games in all competitions. The Kopa Trophy winner will be in the stands for a crucial league game against Atlético Madrid on December 21, a game that will have significant title implications at the halfway point of the season.

Luckily for Barcelona and Yamal, the team has a 14-day break between the game against Atléti and the Copa del Rey third round game against third division club Barbastro, a game that Yamal would probably have missed even if he had been healthy .

Barcelona’s next game is the Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Club on January 8 in Saudi Arabia. That date is still three and a half weeks away, so Yamal could be available if there are no problems with his recovery. Should Barcelona win, the next game, the Supercup final, would be on January 12th.

After the Super Cup, Barça’s next game is a league game against Getafe on January 19. From this point of view, rushing Yamal after injury in the Super Cup makes no sense. Certainly the chance of a trophy in the middle of the season can help boost confidence ahead of the climax of the final months of the season. However, it’s not worth taking the risk of Yamal’s injury re-aggravating and jeopardizing his status heading into the home stretch of the season.

If Barcelona are careful and make Yamal’s full recovery a priority, there is a high chance he will miss the next three games (four if Barça reach the Super Cup final) and return against Getafe in just over a month.

READ THE LATEST BARCELONA NEWS, PREVIEWS, PREDICTIONS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE