Lamine Yamal ‘s anger at the end of Barcelona‘s vital 2-1 win over Atlético Madrid in LaLiga on Saturday was down to the emotion of the game, according to coach Hansi Flick.
Yamal did not celebrate Robert Lewandowski‘s late winner as league leaders Barça moved seven points clear of Real Madrid — who lost to Mallorca earlier in the day — and was still visibly annoyed about something at fulltime.
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“He was a little bit angry,” Flick confirmed in the post-game news conference. “He gave everything, he tried to score goals and give the last pass. It’s normal.
“Of course he has emotion. This was the game, with emotion, but he’s in the dressing room and everything is good.”
Flick’s response was a little vague, but he said Yamal’s temper did not stem from his performance and backed him to be in a “better mood” when the two teams reconvene on Wednesday at Spotify Camp Nou in the first leg of their Champions League quarterfinal.
“It was not because of how he played, he played good,” Flick added. “[Just] some situations, he tried everything, tried everything, but at the moment he does not have this fortune that he scores the goals, but it can come back.
“I don’t know exactly [why he was angry], but [there was] a lot of emotion in the game and Lamine tried everything to score the second goal.
“We have three days now to prepare for the next match. It’s a very important one in the Champions League and he will be in a better mood than after the game.”
Since scoring a hat trick against Villarreal in February, Yamal has managed just three goals in his last nine games for club and country, with two of them coming from the penalty spot and just one from open play.
However, he was still heavily involved as Barça beat Atlético to edge closer to a second successive LaLiga title under Flick.
After Marcus Rashford had cancelled out Giuliano Simeone‘s opener at the Metropolitano, the game swung just before the break when Nicolás González was sent off for hauling down Yamal — with a red card for Barça’s Gerard Martín overturned shortly after.
Atlético defended well with 10 players, but they were denied a point when Lewandowski turned home in the 87th minute after Juan Musso had saved from João Cancelo.
The victory lifts Barça seven clear of Madrid with just eight games to play — including the Clásico at Camp Nou on May 10 — while Atlético remain fourth, 12 points clear of fifth.
“Everyone knows they were big points today, this match day was very important for us,” Flick added of extending the advantage over Madrid. “But everyone knows [LaLiga is] not done. We’re happy, but we didn’t celebrate.”
Barça host Atlético in the second of three meetings between the two teams on Wednesday. The trilogy will then be complete the following Tuesday back at the Metropolitano for the second leg of the Champions League quarterfinal.
