Lamine Yamal was injured in the act of scoring the only goal of the game as Barcelona beat Celta Vigo 1-0.
Yamal converted from the penalty spot in the 40th minute after going down under the challenge of Yoel Lago, but immediately fell to the floor thereafter and went straight down the tunnel as he was withdrawn.
A further delay to the contest then came as the game was stopped for over 10 minutes due to a medical issue in the stands.
With that stoppage added to eight minutes of injury time, it was no surprise Barca were never really able to find their stride in the second half against a Celta side chasing Champions League football.
Ferran Torres appeared to have doubled Barca’s lead early in the second half, only to see his effort ruled out for offside following a VAR review.
An unconvincing Barca side were ultimately grateful to a pair of big saves from Joan Garcia as they restored their nine-point lead over Real Madrid at the top of LaLiga, though their will be obvious concern over Yamal ahead of Saturday’s trip to Getafe.
Yamal injury mars Barcelona win
A frantic first minute saw Lamine Yamal curl narrowly wide of the near post before Celta broke quickly and Pablo Duran drew a brilliant save from Garcia.
Ferran Jutgla wasted the best chance of the half for Celta when he blazed over at the near post, though the visitors were grateful to see another Yamal effort from the edge of the area fly just wide.
Yamal made no mistake in finding the bottom-right corner after winning an ultimately decisive penalty, but the teenager left the pitch in obvious discomfort as he was replaced by Roony Bardghji.
The lengthy delay that followed the opening goal took the sting out of the remainder of the first half, and there was little quality in the early stages of the second until Torres lashed Pedri’s cross in off the underside of the crossbar.
His celebrations would prove moot, however, as Barca were denied breathing room in a game that grew increasingly tense, and only the brilliance of Garcia prevented Duran from levelling matters as the Celta forward let another big chance go begging.
That profligacy ultimately cost Celta, who slip down to seventh, with their dreams of joining Barca in next season’s Champions League fading somewhat.
