After a dominant start to the season at Barcelona, Yamal has entered "international duty mode". The Rocafonda native is in excellent form, on track for his first Ballon d'Or, and is one of the key reasons why Barça is unstoppable and ruthless against its opponents. The La Masia product has been directly involved in 14 goals across 8 matches, including 8 goals and 6 assists, across 7 La Liga matches and 1 Champions League match. However, there is another statistic that better reflects his importance to Flick's Barcelona and their ambition to continue breaking records and winning titles: he plays in almost every match.

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 not yet achieved.

From Fourth to First

Normally, the player with the most playing time is the starting goalkeeper, which in this case was Joan García. However, the Sallés-born goalkeeper suffered an injury during the match against Racing Santander at Spotify Camp Nou, was forced to be substituted, and had no minutes at the Pizjuán to begin his recovery process.

Last season, the outfield player with the most playing time across all competitions was Cubarsí, with a total of 3,978 minutes, only 64 minutes more than Joan García. Yamal finished fourth on this list with 3,702 minutes, also behind third-place Eric García, who played 3,954 minutes.

However, in terms of appearances, the Rocafonda native dropped to 11th place due to pubic bone issues. Ultimately, he made only 45 appearances, 6 fewer than the leaders Eric García and Gerard Martín, who appeared 51 times.

This season, Yamal is one of six Barcelona players who has not missed a single match. The other five are Olmo, Raphinha, Adeyemi, Pedri, and Bernal.

Indispensable for Flick

However, among these six, he is the one with the most minutes because he is an indispensable piece in Flick's plans, and the German coach knows very well that the winger is comfortable on the pitch and his fitness is responding very well.

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 in the 65th minute and appeared somewhat frustrated on the bench, as he always seeks perfection; in the away match against Levante, he was substituted in the 66th minute.

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

Traducido por IA.

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