Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick says he is “hopeful” that winger Lamine Yamal will be available to face Valencia on Sunday despite having trained separately from his teammates.
Flick confirmed that the 19-year-old did not train with the rest of the team on Saturday due to a knock, but said he will be eligible for Barcelona’s fourth game of the La Liga season.
Spain international Yamal scored twice in Barcelona’s last La Liga game, the 2-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano on August 31.
“He got a knock and had some pain,” the German coach said in his pre-match press conference on Saturday. “We decided it was better if he trained separately today, and that was the reason why. After the training session, he said everything was good, so he will travel and hopefully can play tomorrow”.
Last training session before 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐚-𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐜̧𝐚 🫡 pic.twitter.com/p5LxtsVfR4
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 5, 2026
Barcelona have the chance to take advantage of Real Madrid’s first defeat of the season. Jose Mourinho’s side lost to Real Betis on Friday, meaning the Catalans could be three points ahead of their biggest rivals if they beat Valencia.
“Real Madrid played well and had big chances, but this is football, and it can happen that you lose,” said Flick. “For us it’s important to focus on ourselves”.
The 61-year-old also confirmed the new choice of captains in the team. Raphinha has been selected as the new Barca captain, following the departure of Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Ronald Araujo this summer. Yamal has also entered the leadership group this season.
“For me, it was important to have two captains I decided on (Raphinha and Pedri), and then three of the other players had to be picked by the team through a vote,” confirmed Flick. “This is how we did it. The order is Raphinha, Pedri, Eric Garcia, Frenkie de Jong and Lamine Yamal”.
