BARCELONA, Spain -- Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said it is impossible to say if Lamine Yamal will be fit for the first Clásico of the season against Real Madrid later this month.
Yamal, 18, returned from a groin injury as a substitute in last week's win over Real Sociedad and played 90 minutes in Wednesday's loss to Paris Saint-Germain, when he suffered a relapse.
Barça have said he will be out for up to three weeks, missing Sunday's trip to Sevilla and the international break with Spain, and Flick said he could even be absent for the trip to the Santiago Bernabéu on Oct. 26.
"I spoke with him today, it's better but it's not good," Flick told a news conference on Saturday when asked about the forward's fitness.
"This is the situation with Lamine. With this injury, it's not so easy to know [when he will return]. It's not easy to say 'OK he can play in two, three or four weeks...' or if he's able to play the Clásico. This is not possible.
"We have to wait. We must manage his load. He trains with the recovery team and [spend] the next weeks with them. We go step by step. We have to see how the evolution is."
Yamal first injured his groin while with Spain in September, forcing him to miss four games with Barça. Flick, at the time, accused the national team of "not taking care" of the teenager.
Despite that, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente included Yamal in his squad on Friday for next week's World Cup qualifiers against Georgia and Bulgaria.
However, following confirmation of his injury setback, he was withdrawn later in the day.
Prior to his withdrawal, De la Fuente had said he was "surprised" by Flick's comments and that he expected "more empathy" from someone who had also worked with a national team during his time as Germany coach.
Flick said he does not regret what he said but attempted to draw a line under the argument.
"I want to protect my player, support him, this is what it is," he added. "A lot of things happened. This is, for me, done. I have no bad things about this situation.
"I know it from the other side. It's not easy for me. It's not easy for [De la Fuente]. I must protect my player; this is the reason I made it a little louder than normally I want to do it. I don't regret this.
"Now, the important thing is managing this together. The players, the clubs and the Spanish Federation [RFEF]. We have to manage it together."
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Meanwhile, with the Yamal situation ongoing, another club versus country row bubbled up after midfielder Marc Bernal was called up by Spain under-21s after recovering from an ACL injury.
Bernal, 18, was sidelined for over a year, returning as a substitute in the win against Valencia in September. He has since made two more appearances off the bench, but never for more than 11 minutes.
"It's a difficult situation I don't think Marc's right at the moment to play," Flick said.
"I'm not sure what is the task with him, what they want with him. But he's not able to play these minutes. We must take care of him.
"He came from a huge injury of 12 months. We can see it in training. We must take care of him. This goes for me and also for the Spanish Federation."
Later on Saturday, Spain opted to replace Bernal in the squad, with Wolves' Fer López taking his place for this month's matches against Norway and Finland.
After their first defeat of the season in midweek, against PSG in Europe, LaLiga leaders Barça return to domestic action on Sunday when they travel to Sevilla with a lengthy list of injuries.
In addition to Yamal, Marc-André ter Stegen, Joan García, Gavi, Fermín López and Raphinha are also missing.