The loss of Lamine Yamal is one of the worst pieces of news that FC Barcelona has received ahead of a vital match such as the one the club faces against Atlético de Madrid this Saturday. The loss of the genius is something very difficult to deal with, and it is the second time in the short term that it has happened. The winner of the Golden Boy 2024 brings a different vision of the game and generates a lot of football with his dribbling and his quality. It is for this reason that the team feels his absence a lot.
Hansi Flick will have to think a lot about finding a solution. The problem is that the Barça squad is short of players, but much more so of this type of footballers with talent for dribbling. During the previous loss of the Spanish attacker, the coach opted for Fermín López and Dani Olmo as his replacement options, although neither of them provided the overflow that Yamal has, despite offering great performance.
Dani Rodríguez, the most electric player in the reserve team
Dani Rodríguez (09/08/2005, Astigarraga) is one of those players that fans like so much. He is a left winger, although he can also play on the right wing, very fast and with great dribbling ability. He is one of the pearls of La Masía and has stood out a lot since he arrived in 2020 at Cadete A, coming from the Real Sociedad youth team.
During a pre-season friendly of Barça Atlètic, specifically against Cornellà, the Guipuzcoan attacker injured the hamstrings of his right leg. This ailment kept him off the pitch for three months. During that time, the reserve team led by Albert Sánchez saw how, little by little, other teammates in his position, such as Raúl Dacosta, Óscar Ureña or Toni Fernández, also fell out of favour. This generated a great crisis in the offensive part of the Blaugrana team.
However, after being given the all-clear, Dani returned on December 1st, in an away match against Arenteiro. The winger came on in the 76th minute, replacing Aleix Garrido, but he still had time to score a goal. Likewise, in the two following matches, against the Celta and Osasuna reserve teams, Rodríguez once again made the difference. In both matches he played the entire second half, replacing Noah Darvich at half-time. In the first match, against the Galician reserve team, he managed to score two goals while, in the second, he assisted Unai Hernández in the goal that tipped the score in Blaugrana's favour.
The Basque footballer is clearly different and that is why the club made an effort to get him renewed until 2027, as his contract expired in June 2025. Therefore, given the lack of overflow that the first team will suffer without Lamine Yamal, Hansi Flick must consider the possibility that this youngster could be included in the squad against Atlético de Madrid. La Masía almost always provides what is needed.