Barca declares war on Spain coach

Between Barcelona and the Spanish national team, a "cold war" is breaking out around the name Lamine Yamal.

Behind the 18-year-old prodigy's groin injury is a battle of wits between the club and the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), where Hansi Flick and Luis de la Fuente are on opposite sides.

Since Flick publicly accused De la Fuente of “ignoring the health of the players”, the relationship between Barca and the national team has been fractured. In fact, conflicts between clubs and federations are no longer a new thing. The current schedule is packed with La Liga, the Champions League, the Nations League and World Cup qualifiers, putting any star at risk of overload.

Football is becoming more like basketball: the stars only play in major tournaments, and the qualifiers are a place for reserve and young players to try their hand. It is no longer a question of who deserves to be called up, but who is “allowed” to play.

Barca insist they need to treat Yamal for a groin injury, a persistent and recurring problem. But on medical paper, they have no clear reason to keep the player.

Yamal has played 6 consecutive matches, the last 4 of which have played the full 90 minutes. The player himself admitted after the match against Club Brugge in the League Phase, Champions League last week that he still feels fine.

De la Fuente, however, was caught in a storm of criticism. He called Yamal up, which was entirely due process, but Barcelona reacted harshly. Two hours after the camp began, the club suddenly announced that the player needed radiofrequency treatment, a procedure that could be delayed if Barca had a game that week.

The timing of the announcement is hard to believe. They could have announced it earlier, but they chose to “explode” right in front of the RFEF.

The Lamine Yamal saga is about more than just an injury. It reflects a breakdown of trust between club and country. De la Fuente is forced to defend Spain’s interests, while Barcelona is asserting control of its assets, in the economic sense.

In that context, cases like Nico Williams, Valverde or Courtois staying at the club due to “muscle strain” make the public even more suspicious. Big clubs are all putting their own interests before the flag.

Lamine Yamal is only 18, but he has become a symbol of the governance crisis in European football. Clubs want to keep their players for the fierce season, and federations do not want to turn the qualifiers into “practice matches”.

The rivalry between Barca and De la Fuente is the inevitable consequence of an overburdened system, where stars are stretched between two obligations, and national pride gradually becomes a victim of commercial football.

Source: https://znews.vn/barca-tuyen-chien-voi-hlv-tuyen-tay-ban-nha-post1601989.html