Lamine Yamal misses final training session before Barcelona travels to Valencia

Lamine Yamal arrived at Barcelona’s Ciutat Esportiva at 8:50 a.m., but he did not join his teammates on the training field before the team’s trip to Valencia.

The winger remained in the gym while the squad had breakfast, watched video and completed its final session before Sunday’s match at Mestalla. He has started Barcelona’s last three games and played all 90 minutes in the team’s last two, against Athletic Club and Rayo Vallecano.

Everything points to Yamal resting against Valencia, although his absence had not yet been made official. The match is scheduled to begin at 4:15 p.m.

Yamal has had a busy week after scoring twice against Rayo Vallecano. During two days off granted by Hansi Flick, he traveled to Madrid for the AFE awards ceremony, where he and Patri Guijarro were named the best players of the 2025-26 season. Spain’s men’s national team also received an award for its sporting career. Yamal then completed his break with a trip to Paris with his partner, Inés García.

The players have voted for Yamal to become one of Barcelona’s captains, pending official confirmation. Raphinha, Pedri, Eric and Frenkie de Jong remain captains, with Raphinha serving as first captain while De Jong recovers from injury. Flick has stressed the need to look after Yamal, who finished last season injured. Gabriel Jesus and Gavi trained with the group again, with Gavi having recovered from a knock to his right knee.