BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — There was more bad news for Barcelona a day after its second Spanish league loss, with the club saying Lamine Yamal and Robert Lewandowski are sidelined by injuries.
Both players, who have been key for coach Hansi Flick this season, underwent tests on Monday. Yamal will be out for up to three weeks because of an ankle injury and Lewandowski will be rested for 10 days because of “trouble in the lumbar region of his back.”
Lewandowski is La Liga's top scorer with 14 goals after 13 matches. Many of the goals came with help from 17-year-old Yamal, one of Barcelona's most dangerous forwards in an attack that has outscored opponents 40-12 in La Liga and 15-5 in the Champions League. Yamal has six goals from 15 matches across all tournaments.
Barcelona lost at Real Sociedad 1-0 in La Liga on Sunday, ending the team's seven-game winning streak across all competitions. The Catalan club remained six points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid.
Fermín López replaced Yamal in the attack on Sunday, when Barcelona couldn't get a single attempt on target against eighth-placed Sociedad. Lewandowski had a goal disallowed for offside.
Yamal's right ankle injury came last week in the 5-2 win at Red Star in the Champions League.
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Barcelona's Spanish player Lamine Yamal receives the Kopa Trophy during the 68th Ballon d'Or (Golden Ball) award ceremony at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, Monday, Oct. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
Barcelona's Yamal and Lewandowski out due to injuries
Barcelona's Yamal and Lewandowski out due to injuries
Barcelona's Robert Lewandowski reacts after the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Real Sociedad and Barcelona at the Anoeta stadium, in San Sebastian, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Miguel Oses)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Estonia's government was to hold an extraordinary meeting Thursday as investigators try to find out what disrupted a Baltic Sea power cable bringing electricity from Finland, Estonia's prime minister said Thursday.
The Estlink-2 power went down just after noon on Wednesday. Officials have been on edge about undersea cables in the wake of damage to two data cables in November and Nord Stream gas pipeline, both of which have been termed sabotage.
“Despite holidays, many people in Estonia and Finland have been working for the last two days to identify the problem for the Estlink-2 disconnection,” Prime Minister Kristen Michal said on X. “My government will hold an extraordinary meeting this afternoon. We are in close contact with our Nordic-Baltic colleagues.”
Two data cables — one running between Finland and Germany and the other between Lithuania and Sweden — were severed in November. Germany’s defense minister said officials had to assume the incident was “sabotage,” but without providing evidence or saying who might have been responsible. The remark came during a speech in which he discussed hybrid warfare threats from Russia.
The Nord Stream natural gas pipelines that once brought natural gas from Russia to Germany were damaged by underwater explosions in September 2022. Authorities have termed it sabotage and launched criminal probes.
The Estlink-2 cable was down for much of this year to repair damage from a short circuit that may have been caused by the cable’s complex positioning, ERR reported.
Estonian network operator Elering says there was enough spare capacity to meet power needs on the Estonian side, public broadcaster ERR said on its website.
Finnish National Police Comissioner Ilkka Koskim'ki attends a press conference in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, investigating the electricity transmission between Finland and Estonia through the Estlink 2 connection which was cut on Christmas Day, according to Finnish grid operator Fingrid. (Jussi Nukari/Lehtikuva via AP)
