Barcelona president Joan Laporta slams ‘reckless’ Spain after Lamine Yamal and Gavi suffer injuries on international duty

Barcelona winger Yamal suffered a hamstring injury during Spain’s Nations League clash with Denmark earlier this week and midfielder Gavi has been recovering from the anterior cruciate ligament blow he suffered just under a year ago playing against Georgia. Now, president Laporta has branded Luis de la Fuente’s Spain outfit “reckless” for not managing certain players’ loads well enough.

• fcbarcelona.com

  WHAT JOAN LAPORTA SAID

  He told Barca One: “In the case of Lamine, he is a very skilful player, who suffers many injuries. It was reckless for him to stay for the next match and I didn’t like that they tried to convince him to play. We have made arrangements and we must defend our interests. We took action and they understood our approach and that of the player. Lamine is young and has a lot of personality and he explained the situation he was in. I forgot to mention that Gavi was injured with the national team. If he hadn’t played in the two games, he might not have gotten injured. The good news is that now we have to slow him down. He’s going all out in training.”

  Laporta added: “Perhaps we will have to unite the clubs. This rule has to be changed. If the player has the freedom to go or not, they will first look at his physique, without having to put aside the will to go. Having the freedom allows you to avoid it if you are in a situation of overload. The general principle is to go, but there are exceptions for the physical and mental health of the players. Above all to protect the players.”

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Spain boss De La Fuente has been accused of overplaying Yamal of late, something he rejected. The club versus country battle is always a thorny subject but both will hope Yamal is not out for too long and Gavi will be back playing soon after his horror injury.

• Getty Images

  WHAT NEXT?

  Spain are next in Nations League action against Denmark on November 15 and then versus Switzerland three days later. It remains to be seen if either Yamal or Gavi will be fit for these upcoming matches.