Milan, 3 Oct. (LaPresse) – Lamine Yamal has returned to Spain's squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers after recovering from an injury that had become the source of a heated dispute between the Barcelona coach and the national team. Barcelona coach Hansi Flick had lashed out at Spain for fielding Yamal in two easy wins in early September, saying the team ‘had not taken care of him’ and implying that he had played despite his injury. Eighteen-year-old Yamal then missed four games with Barcelona due to ‘pubic discomfort’. The Spanish team denied that he had played despite injury, stating that Yamal had passed all standard medical procedures and that Barcelona had not reported any fitness issues. Spain manager Luis De la Fuente said on Friday that he had ‘no conflict with Hansi Flick’ and defended his handling of his players' health. ‘We don't take any risks, only the risks that any player takes when practising a sport,’ De la Fuente said. ‘If a player arrives at the team, it means he is healthy, and if he plays, it means he is fit to play.’ Yamal has since played two matches for Barcelona, including more than 90 minutes of this week's 2-1 Champions League defeat to Paris Saint-Germain. Barcelona will visit Sevilla on Sunday in La Liga, their last game before the international break, when Spain will host Georgia on 11 October and Bulgaria three days later.
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