Barcelona have woeful La Liga record when Lamine Yamal is unavailable

Barcelona face Valencia in their latest La Liga match on Sunday, but they will do so without the services of Lamine Yamal. Hansi Flick confirmed that the 18-year-old winger is suffering with a hip injury, which means that he will not be involved at the Estadi Johan Cruyff.

It is a big blow for Barcelona to be able to not call upon their talismanic forward, and he could also be missing for the Champions League opener against Newcastle United on Thursday. But for the match against Valencia, his absence could be a nail in the coffin – if history is anything to go by.

As per Sport, Barcelona are yet to win a La Liga match in which Lamine Yamal has not featured since Hansi Flick took over as manager in the summer of 2024. In fact, they have only been successful on one occasion since the teenager was promoted to the first team, and that was a 4-0 victory over Getafe in February 2024 – he was an unused sub for Xavi Hernandez’s side.

Last season, Barcelona played three La Liga matches without the services of Lamine Yamal: 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad, 2-2 draw at Celta Vigo (both in November) and a 2-1 home loss against Atletico Madrid (in December). Fortunately, there were the only league fixtures that he was unable to play due to injury, but only a month into the new campaign, he has bene struck down.

This statistic could give Valencia hope of an unlikely result at the Estadi Johan Cruyff – and considering that they lost 14-2 to Barcelona across three matches last season, they will surely take any crumb of comfort they can get. However, the Catalans still have very dangerous players, and perhaps the addition of Marcus Rashford or Roony Bardghji will help to end their barren streak without the services of Lamine Yamal.