Flick urges Yamal to keep showing off potential for Barcelona

Hansi Flick is confident Lamine Yamal will continue to show off his potential after some impressive recent performances, with Mallorca next up for Barcelona in LaLiga.

Yamal has scored in each of his last four matches in all competitions for Barca, including the opener in their 2-1 Copa del Rey quarter-final victory over Albacete.

Overall, Yamal has been involved in 33 goals in his last 37 appearances for Barca in all competitions, scoring 18 goals and providing 15 assists.

In 2025-26, he leads the way for assists (14) and chances created (84) among Barcelona players, while only Ferran Torres (16) has netted more than his 14 goals.

"I'm very happy with what I see from him," Flick said of Yamal. "He's improving.

"The most important thing is that players with this talent have to enjoy playing, enjoy their work, and he does.

"We want to continue helping him. We can see it in the performances he's giving us. Lately, he's also been scoring more goals. He has much more potential to show, and he will show it.

"I hope he can continue to show us more. He needs to improve every day. The most important thing is that he trains like the champion he is.

"He always listens; he's a very intelligent guy. And he's intelligent on the field because he does things very well. When you give 100% in training, you also give it in the match. That's what I want to see."

Barcelona have a one-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga, which they can extend to four with Los Blancos not playing until Sunday.

Mallorca, meanwhile, are down in 14th, just two points above the relegation zone. They have alternated between losses and wins in their last four games, with both victories in that run coming at home.

"Sometimes it's much easier when you score, so doing so is important," Flick added.

"I'm happy with the style and how we play football. We need to be more focused to finish the play.

"I think the team is in very good form; we play against Mallorca, and they have [Vedat] Muriqi, who is having a great season with 14 goals."

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Barcelona – Ferran Torres

Barcelona have hit the woodwork 22 times in LaLiga in 2025-26, four more than any other team in Europe’s big five leagues this season (Manchester United are second with 18).

Likewise, Torres (six) is the player with the most shots against the woodwork, though he remains Barca's top scorer with 12 goals, and only Robert Lewandowski (93.3) boasts a better minutes-per-goal ratio than him (106.2).

Mallorca – Vedat Muriqi

Muriqi is just one goal away from scoring 50 in LaLiga (49) and has equalled his most prolific season in the competition (15 goals in 21 games this campaign, matching his tally in 35 appearances in 2022-23).

He has been involved in three goals in his last four LaLiga appearances against Barcelona (two goals and one assist).

MATCH PREDICTION: BARCELONA WIN

Barcelona are unbeaten in their last 19 LaLiga matches against Mallorca (W17 D2), since a 2-1 defeat in May 2009, their longest historical unbeaten run against the Balearic side in the competition.

And Barcelona have won each of their last seven LaLiga matches at home against Mallorca, keeping a clean sheet in five of those. This is their longest run of consecutive home wins against them in the top flight.

Couple that with the fact that Mallorca have lost each of their last 17 away games against Catalan teams in LaLiga, after having picked up points in four of the previous five (W1 D3 L1), and their chances of springing a surprise at Camp Nou look quite slim.

Barcelona have also won each of their last 10 home games in LaLiga, the longest ongoing winning run by a team in the competition, level with Atletico Madrid (10).

Mallorca have won two of their last three games in LaLiga (L1), as many victories as in their previous 10 matches in the competition (W2 D4 L4), but they have only won one of their last 15 away from home (D3 L11), a 3-1 victory against Sevilla in October 2025.

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Barcelona – 77.2%

Draw – 13.3%

Mallorca – 9.5%