Lamine Yamal will be handed a "leading role" when Barcelona host Real Sociedad on Sunday, having returned from a groin injury after missing the Blaugrana's last four games.

Barca have won four straight games with Yamal absent due to a groin issue, which he aggravated while on Spain duty during the recent international break.

In LaLiga, they have recorded five wins and one draw so far this campaign, with only Real Madrid making a stronger start through six matchdays (six wins).

Flick is uncertain whether Yamal will start at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, which will host Saturday's game amid further delays to the renovation of Camp Nou, but he intends to get the 18-year-old involved.

"I think he will have minutes, the question is whether he will be in the starting lineup or on the bench," Flick told reporters when quizzed on Yamal's involvement.

"But he will have a leading role in the match. I have no feelings of concern about him."

Barca will be without Raphinha, who is out for three weeks with a hamstring injury, while first-choice goalkeeper Joan Garcia has undergone knee surgery and will miss up to six weeks. Gavi, meanwhile, will sit out five months after having a procedure to rectify another knee issue.

But Flick is confident the Blaugrana will cope, saying: "It doesn't matter how many players we have injured; we focus on the players who can play."

Real Sociedad only took two points from their first five games, but Wednesday's 1-0 win over Mallorca has their head coach Sergio Francisco looking up.

"It's a victory that changes the dynamic. It generates a different context, it gets the team moving," he said.

"The last few days have been different. The team is happy, we have had good vibes from day one, we have that spark. Not winning made the weeks feel longer."

PLAYERS TO WATCH 

Barcelona – Robert Lewandowski 

Lewandowski has scored three goals after coming off the bench in LaLiga this season, following his midweek strike in a 3-1 win over Real Oviedo. 

That is more than any other player as a substitute in Europe's big five leagues this season, though the Poland international did fail to net on his only start in the competition. 

Real Sociedad – Ander Barrenetxea 

Barrenetxea has provided two assists in his last two LaLiga matches, as many as in his previous 27 matches in the competition.

No other player for La Real can match his two assists or three goal involvements (one goal) in the Spanish top flight this campaign.

MATCH PREDICTION – BARCELONA WIN

Barcelona have lost two of their last five matches against Real Sociedad in LaLiga (three wins), twice as many defeats as they suffered in their previous 16 encounters with the San Sebastian side in the competition (13 wins, two draws, one loss).

However, La Real have lost on 26 of their last 27 visits to Barca in LaLiga, with the only exception in this run being their 2-1 victory in May 2023. 

They have suffered 67 away defeats against them in their history in the competition (played 78, four wins, seven draws), at least 11 more than against any other opponent (56 against Real Madrid).

The visitors are coming off their first LaLiga win this term (two draws, three defeats), but they have not managed back-to-back victories in this competition since April 2025. 

Away from home, they are winless in their last seven matches (two draws, five defeats), their worst since another streak of seven games between January and April 2019 (four draws, three defeats).

OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

Barcelona – 68.4%

Real Sociedad – 13.6%

Draw – 18.1%