Barcelona's Lamine Yamal (knee) to miss next Spain Nations League game

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal will miss Spain's Nations League game against Czechia on Thursday with a knee injury, the Spanish Federation [RFEF] announced Monday.

Yamal, 19, picked up the knock in his right knee during Barça's 2-1 victory away at Atlético Madrid in LaLiga on Sunday.

The forward played 90 minutes as Barça secured a win which extended their lead at the top of the table to three points, setting up the winner for Fermín López.

He will undergo treatment in Barcelona over the next few days, the RFEF added, with the aim of joining up with the Spain squad ahead of Sunday's match against England in Madrid.

Real Sociedad striker Mikel Oyarzabal will also sit out the trip to Czechia as he recovers from flu. Like Yamal, the RFEF say he will return for the England game.

Yamal has started all 20 games for club and country this season so far, scoring 17 goals and providing 13 assists, amid calls for his minutes to be managed more wisely.

There were discrepancies between Spain and Barcelona last season when Yamal was dealing wirh a recurring groin injury.

Barça coach Hansi Flick accused Spain counterpart Luis de la Fuente of "not taking care" of Yamal last September, with the RFEF later surprised by the lack of communication from the Catalan side when the player withdrew from the November internationals. 

The teenager, who made his Barça debut as a 15-year-old, has already made 167 appearances for the first team in addition to winning 37 caps for Spain.

World champions Spain are looking to wrap up top spot in Group A3 in the Nations League this week.

They have won their opening four games, accumulating 12 points, and a win against Czechia and a draw with England, who are second with nine points, would guarantee they win the group.

The top two teams will progress to the quarterfinals next March.

The Nations League is a biannual competition which has been running since 2018-19, with Spain winning the competition in 2022-23 and finishing runners up to Portugal last time out in 2024-25.