Barcelona’s Flick praises Yamal’s ‘mentality’ after missing out on Ballon d’Or

What the report says

Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Lamine Yamal handled his Ballon d’Or disappointment well after the 19-year-old forward finished third in the voting, behind Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe. Al Jazeera, citing AFP, reported the comments on Friday ahead of Barcelona’s La Liga match at home to Alaves.

Flick said he was proud of Yamal’s response and praised the player’s focus in training, saying his attitude showed strong mentality and value to the team. Yamal had been viewed as a leading contender after helping Barcelona win La Liga and contributing to Spain’s World Cup success, but the award went to Kane.

The report said Barcelona were aiming to recover from two recent defeats: a 4-2 loss at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League and a 2-1 home defeat to Real Madrid in La Liga. Barcelona still led the Spanish league by two points before facing Atletico Madrid, and Flick stressed that the season remained long and that trophies are decided at the end, not after one setback.

More broadly, the article places Yamal’s finish in context as part of the wider debate over Europe’s top individual football award, while also highlighting Barcelona’s need to regain momentum after their first defeats of the campaign.