Lamine Yamal made a fuss when Flick took him off the field during the Barça-Young Boys Champions League game last week. And the scene took place again in Vitoria.
Flick decided to substitute him in the 67th minute, bringing on Ansu Fati, and Lamine Yamal didn't take this well.
His body language as he made his way to the bench spoke for itself. Then his teammate Fort had to calm him down as he uttered rude words.
The Flick-Yamal Conversation
Hansi Flick pretended not to notice what was going on. He didn't want to make a scene on the field in front of everyone.
But once the match was over and before starting the trip back to Barcelona, the coach called him aside in the dressing room to have a word with him.
Flick reminded him again that Barça is a team of 24 players and that they all have the same right to play. He also told him that nobody complains when he plays and that he owes his teammates respect.
And he told him that he also left Koundé on the bench for the same reason he replaced him: too many games on both.
Why Lamine Yamal Got Angry
Lamine accepted the scolding but wanted to make it clear to Flick that his anger was not due to the substitution. He was annoyed with himself for leaving the match without having contributed the way he should have.
Lamine would have liked to have played a few more minutes to remove the bad taste left in his mouth by his 67 minutes of play in the final moments. Lamine is like Messi: He always wants to play.
Flick also reminded him that he's one of the players who's played the most minutes for Barça and that he will not rest during the international break. What's more, he will be overloaded with more games. And the last thing Barça wants is to lose him due to an injury.
Lamine will most likely play in the two matches against Denmark and Serbia. He then faces a hectic schedule against Barça: Sevilla, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Espanyol.
It's never a good time to give Lamine Yamal a rest. But with the 3-0 win in Vitoria against Alavés, his presence was less necessary. In addition, Flick wanted to see Ansu Fati in action.
The Worst Didn't Happen
The German coach has very clear ideas about rotations. He has programmed the minutes that each player should play and he'll try to fight against the merciless schedule with intelligent rotations and mid-match breaks.
The matter didn't go any further. Lamine understood. One more experience in his still short career as a professional footballer.
The worst didn't happen, although it looked as if it had based on the images seen on TV with Lamine Yamal on the bench.