BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona coach Hansi Flick downplayed Lamine Yamal’s reaction to being substituted late in his team’s 2-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. champions league on tuesday.
Yamal was replaced by Rooney Bulge in the 89th minute towards the end of the league match. He walked away with a serious expression on his face, seeming to be talking to himself. Even after returning to the bench, he didn’t seem satisfied.
“We replaced Ramin with a few minutes left because he was booked and was late,” Frick said. “If he was a little frustrated, I totally understand and I like that. I was a player too, so that’s perfectly acceptable and it doesn’t matter.”
Yamal was shown a yellow card for a foul in the 56th minute and will miss the team’s next Champions League game.
His cross set up Jules Kounde for his second goal in the 53rd minute, giving Barcelona a come-from-behind victory after the visitors had taken the lead in the 21st minute. Kounde also scored in the 50th minute.
According to UEFA, 18-year-old Yamal has recorded the most goal involvements (assists and goals) of any player under the age of 19 in the history of the Champions League, from the group and league stages to the final. He has 14 goals, 7 goals and 7 assists. This is one more than Kylian Mbappé’s previous record of 13 (10 goals and 3 assists).
“It’s great for Jules to score…his talent and mentality are very important,” Flick said.
Kunde said it was “fun” to be able to create a lot of offense on Tuesday.
“My first job is to defend well, so I have to maintain balance,” he said. “And then there are the games where we play against a back five. Frankfurt were very deep today so we have to attack the spaces behind. That’s what I tried to do and we succeeded with those two goals.”
It was the fifth consecutive game in which Barcelona conceded first. They have won their last four games.
With this victory, Barcelona moved from 8th place in the league to 14th place, two points behind.
“I’m really happy to be back,” Flick said, but added: “Sometimes it’s nice to get off to a good start and score the first goal. That’s what it is.”
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