Hansi Flick Left Dreading Inevitable Lamine Yamal Headache

No matter how prized Lamine Yamal is on Barcelona’s right flank, manager Hansi Flick knows he must give the 19-year-old some respite to go the long haul. He just doesn’t know when.

The star winger has started every match for Barça this season, playing the full 90 minutes in eight of them and contributing massively to the club’s historic start of 10 consecutive wins with eight goals and nine assists in that span.

“Lamine is a special player, and I know we have to balance his minutes, but for him the most important thing is to enjoy playing football, and at the moment that’s the case and I don’t want to interrupt that situation,” Flick told reporters.

Barcelona face their most important match yet, traveling to Seville on Saturday with the hope of making history. Should the unstoppable Catalans defeat Real Betis, they will become just the second team ever to win its opening nine games of a La Liga season.

Barcelona may be playing like the best team in the world, but Manuel Pellegrini’s side won’t be an easy foe. Real Betis are in red-hot form, having lost just once in 2026–27. Any chance of victory will require the continued magic of Yamal. So, when will he get his rest?

Barcelona’s Upcoming Schedule

A hamstring injury last April saw Yamal miss the rest of the 2025–26 season and almost impeded his ability to represent Spain at the 2026 World Cup this summer, seeing his minutes heavily managed in the group stage, and it curbed his stardom for months as he struggled to regain fitness.

Flick will be eager to avoid any relapse of that overuse injury; however, he will need his star man in the coming weeks. After the clash with Real Betis, Barcelona’s schedule only intensifies.

A Champions League clash with two-time victors Paris Saint-Germain is on the horizon. Barcelona will head to Parc des Princes on Tuesday to face the team that embarrassed Premier League leaders Manchester City midweek.

After that comes the first Clásico of the new season, a pivotal clash with Real Madrid at Camp Nou that could have serious implications on the rest of the La Liga season.

This means that respite for Yamal may not come until the end of the month when Barcelona host Deportivo Alavés. The Spanish side currently sits seventh in league standings but defeated the Catalans in their most recent clash back in May, 1–0.

Barcelona’s Upcoming Schedule