BARCELONA, Spain (AP) – Barcelona visit Getafe on Saturday to begin preparations for the La Liga title without injured Lamine Yamal.
The defending champions said Thursday that Yamal, the team’s leading scorer and assist maker, said: Will miss the last six games While playing the previous day, he injured a muscle strain in his left foot, which ended his season.
Yamal, 18, fell to the ground shortly after the spot-kick and grabbed the back of his left leg during Wednesday’s 1-0 La Liga win against Celta Vigo. He was quickly replaced.
Barcelona added that doctors expect Yamal to be fit in time to play for Spain at the World Cup, which begins in seven weeks.
key match
Barcelona enter the season at home with a nine-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid.
Madrid visit fifth-placed Real Betis on Friday and need a win to remain an option to catch the defending champions. Madrid will face Barcelona in the third match on May 10th.
La Liga is the only chance for both powerhouses to finish the season with a major title after they were eliminated in the Champions League quarter-finals last week.
“Regardless of what Barcelona do, our goal has to be to win all six games,” said Madrid coach Alvaro Arbeloa, who is most likely to replace Xabi Alonso midway through the season this summer.
Atlético is win against barcelona In order to reach the last four of the Champions League, they are likely to prioritize next week’s semi-final match against Arsenal over Saturday’s domestic match against Athletic Bilbao.
Manager Diego Simeone is certain to rotate his squad and rest his best players ahead of Wednesday’s home game against Arsenal.
Villarreal host Celta on Sunday as they aim to secure third place and a corresponding spot in next season’s Champions League.
Featured players
With Rafinha also likely to be absent, coach Hansi Flick still has options to form his starting line-up. That includes forward Marcus Rashford, winger Rooney Bulge, as well as Dani Olmo, Gabi Paes and Fermin López, who have shifted from midfield to forward.
Kylian Mbappé helped Madrid beat Alaves 2-1 on Tuesday and leads the league with 24 goals, three ahead of Mallorca’s Vedat Muriqui. This ended a four-game winless streak for Arbeloa’s team as a whole.
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In addition to Yamal and Rafinha, Barcelona is also likely to be without right-back Joao Cancelo, who was injured against Celta.
Madrid will be without central defender Eder Militao and in-form midfielder Arda Güler after the club announced on Wednesday that both players had sustained muscular injuries.
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