On Friday, Spain head coach Luis de la Fuente announced his squad for the upcoming international break, which sees La Roja take on Scotland and Norway in crucial Euro 2024 qualifying matches.
When speaking to the media on his squad, de la Fuente compared Barcelona youngster Lamine Yamal – who has been handed a second successive call-up – to Lionel Messi, something that Xavi Hernandez has been trying to avoid in recent weeks.
Unsurprisingly, Barcelona have been left annoyed by de la Fuente’s remarks, as reported by Sport. They do not want Lamine Yamal to feel any undue pressure from comments in the media, which they feel the Spain head coach has done.
Barcelona recognise that there was no bad faith behind de la Fuente’s bad remarks, but they still feel that it was wrong for him to make comparisons to Messi, and also Diego Maradona.
Barcelona’s stance on this is understandable. The last thing that Lamine Yamal needs is more pressure, he’s already a 16-year-old kid playing regularly for one of the biggest clubs in the world. They want to keep his head in the game, and his feet firmly on the ground.
