After a spectacular start to the season with Barcelona, Yamal has shifted into "international duty mode". The young player from Rocafonda is in excellent form, fighting hard for his first Ballon d'Or, and is one of the reasons Barcelona has been unstoppable and relentless against their opponents. The La Masia product has been directly involved in 14 goals across 8 matches, including 8 goals and 6 assists, in 7 LaLiga games and 1 Champions League game. However, there is another statistic that better reflects his importance to Barcelona under Flick's command and the team's ambition to continue breaking records and competing for titles: he plays in almost every game.

With the arrival of the first and longest international break of the season, Yamal already leads Barcelona in playing time, one of the few records he had yet to achieve.

From Fourth to First

Typically, the player with the most playing time is the starting goalkeeper, which this season is Joan García. However, the Sarrión native suffered an injury in the match against Racing Santander at Spotify Camp Nou, forcing him to exit early, and did not play in Pizjuán as he began his recovery process.

Last season, the outfield player with the most minutes across all competitions was Cubarsí, with a total of 3,978 minutes, just 64 minutes fewer than Joan García. Yamal was fourth on this list with 3,702 minutes, also behind Eric García, who played 3,954 minutes.

However, in terms of appearances, the Rocafonda youngster dropped to 11th place due to a groin injury. He ultimately made only 45 appearances, six fewer than Eric García and Martín, who each made 51 appearances.

This season, Yamal is one of six Barcelona players who have not missed a single match so far; the other five are Olmo, Raphinha, Adeyemi, Pedri, and Bernal.

Indispensable for Flick

Among these six, however, he has played the most minutes because he is an indispensable part of Flick's team, and the German coach knows full well that the winger is thriving on the pitch and responding very well physically.

In the 8 matches played so far, Yamal has completed 6 of them: Athletic Bilbao, Rayo Vallecano, Valencia, Feyenoord, Racing Santander, and Sevilla. In the season's opening match against Elche, he was substituted off in the 65th minute, appearing somewhat frustrated on the bench because he always demands perfection; in the away game against Levante, he was substituted off in the 66th minute.

Including these matches, the La Masia product has played 671 minutes, leading second-place captain Raphinha by 55 minutes, who currently has 626 minutes of playing time.

Traduzido por IA.

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