Lamine Yamal en route to becoming 'one of the best ever' but needs referee protection, says Barcelona boss Hansi Flick - ‘He’s 18, come on!’
Published 09/04/2026 at 12:17 GMT+1
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Hansi Flick has demanded more protection for Lamine Yamal from officials after Barcelona's 2-0 UEFA Champions League quarter-final first-leg defeat to Atletico Madrid on Wednesday. Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth netted for the visitors, after Barcelona had Pau Cubarsi sent off in the first half for a foul on Giuliano Simeone. Flick believes Yamal will become one of Spain's best players ever.
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Lamine Yamal needs more help from officials in the wake of Barcelona’s first-leg UEFA Champions League quarter-final loss to Atletico Madrid, according to Hansi Flick.
Goals from Julian Alvarez and Alexander Sorloth saw Atleti claim a 2-0 victory over Flick's side, who had Pau Cubarsi sent off for a foul on Giuliano Simeone just before the break.
The Catalan club impressed despite being a man down, with Marcus Rashford hitting the crossbar from a free-kick and teenage sensation Yamal a constant thorn in Atleti's side.
After the game, Barca manager Flick insisted that the 18-year-old attacker needed more "support".
"Of course, he's disappointed - everyone was disappointed," Flick said. "But Lamine played a fantastic game, from the beginning to the end, in the defence and in the offence.
”He had one-v-one situations, he had three, four, five players around him. It's unbelievable."
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Flick added: "I said it yesterday, he's 18 years old, and, for me, he's doing a fantastic job. We have to support him. Not make so much noise about things.
"He's 18 years old, come on! For your country [Spain], he will be one of the best players ever.
"The referees, they have to protect him. This is why everyone goes to the stadium, everyone wants to see football, from these players. [Kylian] Mbappe, Vinicius Junior, Lamine, Pedri."
'They will make us suffer' - Simeone
Atleti manager Diego Simeone, meanwhile, hailed his side for winning at the Camp Nou for the first time since 2006.
"I don't think my Atleti had ever won at Camp Nou," Simeone said at his post-match press conference.
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"It's very difficult. They're arguably the best team in Europe, along with Paris [Saint-Germain] and Bayern [Munich]. Through good teamwork, we were able to capitalise on key moments in the match."
Simeone added: "The second goal gave us more confidence, and it's a shame we couldn't extend our lead further.
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"I could tell you a thousand stories about matches where we had 30 shots and didn't score.
"Football is wonderful, because clinical finishing is key. Today, we were extremely clinical. Other nights, we weren't. It's a good result, but with an opponent that will surely make us suffer on Tuesday."
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