BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lamine Yamal will not play in Barcelona’s Champions League opener at Newcastle on Thursday because of an injury.

The Catalan club said Wednesday that Yamal was not in its squad for the trip to England in the league phase of the Champions League. The star forward had already missed the Spanish league game against Valencia on Sunday.

Yamal was nursing “discomfort in the pubic area” after playing with Spain’s national team during the international break.

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick had said he was upset with Spain for having played Yamal for what he considered unnecessary minutes during big wins in two World Cup qualifiers. Flick accused Spain of being aware that Yamal was feeling discomfort and playing him anyway.

The federation said in response to Flick’s stateme

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