On Sunday, Barcelona secured their eighth win in nine La Liga matches with a convincing victory at Alaves. It was a joyous occasion for the Catalans, who managed to restore their three-point advantage over Real Madrid at the top of the standings, although not everyone was overly pleased.
Barcelona supporters would have been delighted to see Lamine Yamal taken off on 67 minutes, with the result already assured. However, the player himself was visibly annoyed by the substitution, as captured by the TV cameras.
https://twitter.com/YamalXtraMedia/status/1842967934790250522
As per Sport, Barcelona took Lamine Yamal off to protect him from any possible injury – they also recognise that he will play an important role for Spain during the international break, so it was important that he was not overloaded.
Hansi Flick has been criticised for a perceived “overuse” of Lamine Yamal during the opening weeks of the season, although it is clear that Barcelona see him in great shape physically. Nevertheless, it is also important to protect him, which is why the change against Alaves was necessary.
It was probably a combination of being taken off and frustration at being swarmed by Alaves defenders each time he got the ball. Not criticizing Alaves; they played physically against him but cleanly. It was clear that they weren’t going to give him any daylight to operate in if they could help it, however.
He should expect to see a lot of this going forward and realize that defenses that employ this tactic will be vulnerable in other areas, which can be exploited. Flick seems like the type of manager that will communicate well with the young man and address this before it becomes a problem.