Barcelona star Lamine Yamal has risked the annoyance of manager Hansi Flick by publicly disagreeing with his boss. The German coach had signalled that his players needed a more unselfish attitude after his side dropped points against Rayo Vallecano on Sunday night in a 1-1 draw.

After the game, Flick said that he did not want to speak about individuals, and that he did not want any egos, as ‘egos kill success’. He went on to encourage his side to think of the collective, as they did last season. Something midfielder Pedri has since agreed with.

Lamine Yamal: ‘I don’t think it has to do with egos’

Lamine Yamal also spoke to the press in the aftermath, before hearing from his manager in the dressing room, and noted that he was keen for the side to get back the intensity that they had from last year. In an interview with RTVE, as covered by Diario AS, Lamine Yamal doubled down on that analysis.

“I think it has more to do with the fact that we didn’t start the season with the intensity we had at the end of the previous one than with the egos in the dressing room. After a draw, you come out of it hot; in the end, you have to win. We took seven points out of nine on very difficult pitches, something people don’t mention.”

“He is right that we made a lot of mistakes, but it can happen. We have to get back to our level as soon as possible. We’re hungry for more because we haven’t won four Champions Leagues or four Liga titles in a row; we’re very young. La Liga is very long, so we have to be consistent.”

Fermin looks very happy to me’ – Lamine Yamal

Another talking point at Barcelona has been the potential departure of Fermin Lopez, and despite interest from Chelsea, he decided to stay.

“Fermin looks very happy to me. At Barca, if someone leaves, it’s by their own choice. We’re a young, united group where there are no problems between us. I don’t think anyone wants to leave. We jokingly asked him what was going on with England, but he said he wanted to stay.”

He also opined on the decision of Spain teammate Nico Williams to remain at Athletic Club.

“The important thing is that Nico enjoys where he is, I’m not one to tell him where to go.”