Spain did not need Lamine Yamal to win in Prague on Thursday night. They will still be a very different team with him in Madrid on Sunday — and Luis de la Fuente has confirmed the Barcelona winger is fit, back with the squad on Friday and ready to face England.
De la Fuente delivered the update after Spain's 2-0 win over Czechia, a fifth straight victory in Nations League Group A3 achieved without Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal. "Lamine feels very good now and is really looking forward to joining the squad tomorrow," the Spain coach told La 1, as Reuters reported. Oyarzabal, who stayed in San Sebastian for the birth of his second child, will also train with the group on Friday evening. "Mikel too. One will arrive at midday and the other a little later, but both will be with us tomorrow," De la Fuente added.
A week of noise ends with good news
Yamal's absence has dominated Spain's week. The 19-year-old reported discomfort in his right knee after Barcelona's 2-1 La Liga win at Atletico Madrid on Sunday, and scans showed inflammation and fluid in the joint. Rather than fly him to Prague, Spain left him in Barcelona for treatment with his club — a decision that drew claims in parts of the Spanish press that the teenager receives special treatment.
De la Fuente angrily rejected that reading before the Czechia game. "Lamine doesn't have any special privileges. We would have done this for any other player," he said, in comments reported by TNT Sports. "What hurts me most is the lying, the lack of rigour, the absence of truthfulness and the fabrication." Spain coped without him — Alex Baena's penalty and Marc Pubill's stoppage-time strike kept their perfect record intact — but coping is not the same as thriving, and nobody in the camp pretended otherwise.
The numbers explain why his return matters so much. Yamal, who finished third in last month's Ballon d'Or voting behind winner Harry Kane, has produced 13 goals and 12 assists in 16 appearances for Barcelona this season. He is not a squad player being eased back. He is the player Spain's attack is built around.
What it changes for Sunday at the Metropolitano
Sunday's game at Atletico Madrid's Metropolitano is a straight shoot-out for top spot in Group A3. Spain lead England by three points and need only a draw to finish first; both sides are already through to the quarter-finals, so what is really at stake is seeding, momentum and a statement. England, who beat Croatia 2-1 at Wembley on Thursday on the night Kane set a new appearance record, lost 3-2 to Spain at Wembley earlier in this group — and that was with Yamal in the side they had to stop.
For England, his return changes the defensive plan completely. Baena impressed on the right in Prague, but Yamal pins a full-back, draws a second defender and opens the far side of the pitch in a way no other Spain winger can. With Oyarzabal also back, De la Fuente suddenly has his full first-choice front line available for the one game in this group he most wanted to win.
Barcelona will be watching Sunday as closely as anyone. Yamal stayed with his club all week precisely so a minor knee problem did not become a major one, and a sharp, unharmed return against England would close the episode perfectly for the La Liga leaders ahead of the domestic restart. A setback, after all the argument about how he was handled, would reopen it instantly.
Beyond the Final Whistle: Spain managed this exactly right, whatever the noise said. A teenage star with fluid on his knee was rested, treated and returned for the biggest game of the group — that is not privilege, it is asset management, and England are the ones who pay for it on Sunday. Yamal fresh, at home, with top spot on the line is the worst version of Spain Thomas Tuchel's side could have drawn. Tell us in the comments — does Yamal start on Sunday, or is an hour from the bench the smarter play?
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