‘Yamal’s return inspired Barca’

The return of teenage sensation Lamine Yamal to Barcelona’s starting line-up following an injury lay-off inspired the team to their 5-1 thrashing of Mallorca, manager Hansi Flick said on Tuesday.

During Yamal’s four-week absence with an ankle injury leaders Barcelona picked up only one point in three LaLiga matches, allowing the chasing pack led by Real Madrid to close the gap at the top to just one point.

The emphatic win on Tuesday at Mallorca finally ended their three-match win-less streak and Flick was quick to flag up the impact Yamal has on the side.

“Today (Yamal) was very important for us, he always generates positive things for the team,” Flick told Movistar Plus.

“He could have scored one or two goals today, he played very well.

“Of course I am happy with the team performance. In the first half we had a lot of chances and we scored, but they equalised in a counter attack but we kept going. The entire team is happy with how things went tonight.”

Flick did not even need his star striker Robert Lewandowski to show up against Mallorca. The Polish striker, who is the top-scorer in LaLiga with 15 goals, was handed a rest day after starting all 20 of Barcelona’s previous matches in all competitions.

Lewandowski’s replacement Ferran Torres pounced on some sloppy defending by Mallorca to give the visitors an early lead with a clever strike.

“Lewandowski needed to rest, we had to look after him,” Flick said.

“And Ferran (Torres) had a very good game and scored the first goal, it’s very important for him too. Whenever we need him, he’s always there. Today we didn’t need to play Lewandowski.”

Barca top the standings on 37 points, four ahead of second-placed Real Madrid who have two games in hand. Atletico are third on 32 points and have one game in hand — SuperSport.