{"id":555878,"date":"2025-11-07T21:20:16","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T21:20:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/555878\/"},"modified":"2025-11-07T21:20:16","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T21:20:16","slug":"yamal-in-the-spotlight-again-spain-coach-de-la-fuente-and-barcelona-president-laporta-differ-on-the-young-star","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/555878\/","title":{"rendered":"Yamal in the spotlight again: Spain coach De la Fuente and Barcelona president Laporta differ on the young star"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lamine Yamal<\/a><\/strong> has been at the center of tension between Spain <\/strong>and Barcelona<\/strong> since he returned from the September international break with an injury. That incident sparked a series of public exchanges involving Luis De la Fuente<\/strong> and Hansi Flick<\/strong> \u2014 a discussion that Joan Laporta<\/strong> has now subtly joined.<\/p>\n

After missing Spain<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s October call-up, Yamal has once again been included in the squad for the November international break, during which the team will aim to secure qualification for the 2026 FIFA World Cup<\/strong> when they face Georgia <\/strong>and Turkey<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Joan Laporta<\/a><\/strong> held a press conference on Friday following the reopening of Camp Nou. There, among other topics, he addressed Yamal\u2019s return to international duty. \u201cI always see a national team call-up as a form of recognition, and Lamine is the best in the world in his position,\u201d the Barcelona president said, according to Marca.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s normal for them to call him up, but I\u2019d like them to manage his workload,\u201d<\/strong> Laporta added. \u201cBesides, Spain are practically qualified<\/strong> \u2014 I think they only need one point. But I don\u2019t want to pressure the coach or create controversy. I understand why they called him; it\u2019s a sign of recognition.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a conciliatory tone, the Barcelona<\/a><\/strong> president expressed understanding toward Spain\u2019s decision while still echoing the concerns previously voiced by Hansi Flick: he hopes Yamal won\u2019t be overused during the international break so that he can return to the club in top condition.<\/p>\n

What did the Spain coach say about Yamal? <\/p>\n

Almost simultaneously with Laporta\u2019s remarks at Camp Nou, Luis De la Fuente<\/a><\/strong> held a press conference ahead of Spain\u2019s matches against Georgia and Turkey. When asked about his past discussions with Hansi Flick, he responded honestly: \u201cWe haven\u2019t spoken again. We\u2019ve only talked once. There\u2019s time for everything; we\u2019ll talk. But everything was clear.\u201d<\/p>\n

Regarding Lamine Yamal\u2019s return, the Spanish coach was direct: \u201cThe answer is obvious. I think he\u2019s in perfect condition<\/strong>. His coach said he was fit to play soccer, he\u2019s regaining his level, and we\u2019re happy about that,\u201d said Luis, referring to the performance the young winger displayed during the recent UEFA Champions League <\/strong>match against Club Brugge.<\/strong><\/p>\n

De la Fuente then made a clear contrast with Laporta\u2019s comment about managing Yamal\u2019s minutes. \u201cHe\u2019ll be here for as long as we consider necessary,\u201d<\/strong> the coach stated. And unlike the Barcelona president \u2014 who believes Spain are \u201cpractically qualified\u201d \u2014 Luis remained cautious: \u201cWe\u2019re playing for a lot, and we want to have our best players with us.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s situation in the World Cup qualifiers <\/p>\n

With just two matches remaining in the regular phase of the World Cup qualifiers<\/a><\/strong>, Spain lead Group E with 12 points, the result of four wins in four games. Close behind them are Turkey <\/strong>with 9 points, followed by Georgia <\/strong>(3) and Bulgaria <\/strong>(0).<\/p>\n

If Spain defeat Georgia on Saturday, November 15, and Turkey fail to beat Bulgaria, De la Fuente\u2019s team will secure their place in the 2026 World Cup<\/strong>. Otherwise, they will face a decisive clash against Turkey on Tuesday, November 18, at La Cartuja Stadium in Seville.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lamine Yamal has been at the center of tension between Spain and Barcelona since he returned from the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":555879,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[199,2000,299,177607,15217,130809,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-555878","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-barcelona","9":"tag-eu","10":"tag-europe","11":"tag-joan-laporta","12":"tag-lamine-yamal","13":"tag-luis-de-la-fuente","14":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115510511095076133","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555878","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=555878"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555878\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/555879"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=555878"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=555878"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=555878"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}