Barcelona coach refutes rumors that he does not dare to punish Yamal: I don’t know where the rubbish news comes from

Barcelona is in a whirlpool of public opinion. It was revealed that coach Flick was under pressure from the management during the pre-match team meeting against Paris Saint-Germain, requiring him to send 18-year-old talented star Yamal to play, even though the latter violated team discipline due to being late.

This news caused an uproar. What makes the outside world even more suspicious is that England forward Rashford was directly excluded from the starting lineup before the game against Getafe due to the same late behavior. This completely different approach has led the Spanish media to accuse the club of having "double standards" and treating the two players differently.

Faced with the overwhelming accusations, coach Flick was furious and publicly strongly denied it: "I want to know who is spreading such remarks! This is completely nonsense. I have never been forced by anyone. Here, I maintain a professional cooperative relationship with Deco and other colleagues. They trust me, and I am confident in my work."

The outbreak of this internal conflict coincided with Barcelona's sluggish state. The team suffered heavy losses one after another: losing 1-2 to Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League, and then losing 1-4 to Sevilla in La Liga. Despite this, Barcelona currently sit second in the standings, just two points behind Xavi Alonso's Real Madrid.

This season, due to a groin injury, Yamal has only played 5 times so far, but has contributed 2 goals and 4 assists, and just won the second place in the 2025 Golden Globe Award. Rashford, who joined on loan from Manchester United, performed stably, scoring 3 goals and providing 5 assists in 10 games.

Sports director Deco came forward to clarify, emphasizing that there is no conflict within the club: "We are very satisfied with Rashford's performance. His loan agreement is very simple, there is no mandatory buyout clause, but Barcelona has an optional buyout option. As for Yamal, He is undoubtedly the future star of the club. However, no matter who the player is, they must abide by the same disciplinary principles."

It is reported that Rashford successfully "cut off" from Bayern Munich after Barcelona failed to acquire Luis Dias. In order to realize his dream of landing at Camp Nou, the England international took the initiative to reduce his weekly salary of 315,000 pounds by 15% and agreed to set a buyout option of approximately 27 million euros in the contract.

Although the "double standards" statement may be just unconfirmed rumors, it profoundly reflects the tremendous pressure Flick is currently under - in a Barcelona that craves stability, he not only has to maintain the iron discipline of the locker room, but also defends his authority as the head coach.