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Barcelona Coach Admits Lamine Yamal 'Needs Help' After El Clasico Loss

Originally posted on Athlon Sports
By Manuel Meza Cienfuegos | Last updated Oct 27, 2025 5:52 PM ET

Real Madrid defeated Barcelona 2-1 on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, in the most recent edition of El Clasico, on the occasion of the tenth matchday of LaLiga.

Los Blancos secured the victory with goals from Kylian Mbappe in the 22nd minute and Jude Bellingham in the 43rd. Barcelona had equalized in the 38th minute with a goal from Fermin Lopez. Pedri was sent off in the 90+10th minute.

With this result, Xabi Alonso’s team remains the leader, now with 27 points. Hansi Flick’s men, for their part, are in second place with 22 points, very close to Villarreal (third, with 20 points) and Atletico Madrid (fourth, with 19 points).

This edition of El Clasico was not without controversy, as Vinicius Jr. staged a tantrum upon being substituted for Rodrygo in the 75th minute.

Also, several players confronted each other at the end of the match. Dani Carvajal, for example, confronted Lamine Yamal over the comments the 18-year-old forward made a few days ago. A member of Barcelona's technical staff believes Yamal needs help to better handle these situations.

Lamine Yamal of FC Barcelona controls the ball during the LaLiga EA Sports match against Real Madrid CF at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Barcelona Coach Acknowledges Lamine Yamal Still Has Things to Learn

The assistant coach of Barcelona, Marcus Sorg, spoke after the match ended, and acknowledged that their number 10 needs help to face teams that prepare especially to stop him.

"It was clear that they had a plan to stop Lamine Yamal. We have to help him," Sorg said. "They had Lamine going on two vs. one always. He couldn’t get inside the box."

Minutes	Goals	Assists	xG	xA
90	0	0	0.03	0.37

Lamine Yamal stats vs. Real Madrid by FotMob

Flick's right-hand man even acknowledged that it wasn't Yamal's best performance, pointing out that he still must learn to manage hostile environments like the one at the Santiago Bernabeu.

"He is still learning how to deal with the crowds. With the chants, the whistles, the hostile environment against him. It’s part of the process, its normal. Usually he plays well, but today it wasn’t easy for him," Sorg added.

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Yamal played the full 90 minutes of the match and only registered two shots, none on target. He generated two dangerous opportunities, but had an expected goals (xG) of 0.03. He added six passes into the final third, one tackle and six ball recoveries. He won six out of 12 duels.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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