Barcelona’s management’s plea for enhanced protection of young winger Lamine Yamal went unheeded during Sunday’s match.
Despite Lamine failing to score for the third game in a row, he delivered a superb assist for his team’s fifth goal against Villarreal.
During the match, the 17-year-old was subjected to aggressive play by Villarreal’s players. As the game was already decided, Lamine demonstrated his abilities on the right wing, where he was on the receiving end of a dangerously high challenge from Sergi Cardona.
The incident unequivocally justified a red card. Surprisingly, despite being shown a yellow card, Cardona escaped further punishment due to the failure of the VAR team to inform referee Mateo Busquets about the seriousness of the tackle.
Initial reports suggested that Barcelona planned to contact Spanish football authorities to enhance the protection of their emerging players. However, this time, the opposite occurred.
