Yamal calls reports on Barça injury spell ‘all lies’

Lamine Yamal said there have been a lot of «lies» about his groin injury after helping Barcelona come from behind three times in Wednesday’s 3-3 draw against Club Brugge in the Champions League.

Yamal, 18, missed seven games for club and country earlier this season because of a problem with his pubalgia, with some reports suggesting he might require surgery, but he has since started Barça’s past five matches.

Barça coach Hansi Flick said it’s an issue Yamal is still having to manage, but the teenager showed no ill effects against Brugge, scoring a stunning solo goal and setting up another.

«I am good,» he told reporters after the game. «I try not to read things.

«A lot has been said about my injury and that I was sad. It was all lies. I wanted to work hard to get back to this level, which is when I feel the best and have the most fun.»

Barça trailed three times in a thrilling game at the Jan Breydel Stadium, responding through Ferran Torres, Yamal and a late Christos Tzolis own goal.

Yamal’s goal, Barça’s second equalizer, was the pick of the bunch as he collected the ball outside of the box, beat a man, played a one-two with Fermín López and then finished expertly.

The Spain international then set up Barça’s third goal, ghosting inside and producing a cross which Tzolis flicked it into his own net.

«I am happy that Lamine is back on this level, but how I said also, we don’t know what is tomorrow; we don’t know what is next Sunday,» Flick said in the postgame news conference.

«The important thing is that he manages this situation he has now because it’s not easy. He has to be focused on what he has to do, how he has to train and also the treatment.

«If he manages that the right way, hopefully it goes away, but it’s not easy to say when with the situation.»

Yamal’s goal drew comparisons to Barça legend and current Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi, but he was once again keen to play them down.

«I can’t compare myself with Messi,» he added. «He’s scored thousands of goals like that. I have to make my own way and hope to score many more goals like that.

«I try to do the best I can. The move went really quick and Fermín’s left me with the ball with a nice flick. I have controlled it and finished it.»

For the second time in two weeks, after he was whistled at the Santiago Bernabéu by Real Madrid fans, Yamal was given a hostile reception by the jeering home fans in Belgium.

«I don’t think it’s a coincidence that they whistle me and no one else,» he said. «If they’re whistling me, it’s because I am doing my job well on the pitch. I am not worried about that.»

Barça’s draw in Brugge leaves them 11th in the Champions League standings with seven points from four games, while they remain second in LaLiga, five points behind Real Madrid ahead of Sunday’s trip to Celta Vigo.