Lamine Yamal's 2024 has officially come to an end after Barcelona announced the 17-year-old suffered a grade 1 ligament injury in his right ankle keeping him out of action for three to four weeks.
In a day that began with celebration as Yamal showcased his recently won 2024 Golden Boy trophy to the Barça faithful at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, quickly soured. Leganes midfielder, Yvan Neyou, slid to clear the ball but caught Yamal with his back leg, awkwardly twisting his ankle 16 minutes into the contest.
The Barcelona winger laid on the ground, visibly in pain as doctors checked up on him. Surprisingly, Yamal stayed in the game; however, he was clearly in discomfort, far from his best and finally made way for Gavi in the 75th minute of a match Barcelona ended up losing 0–1.
Tests carried out on Monday revealed the extent of the injury and bad news continue to pile up for Barça who are now barely hanging on to the top spot in La Liga and could be overtaken by both Atlético and Real Madrid, who have a game in hand.
Hansi Flick will be forced to go into the new year without one of his most valuable players.
