Hansi Flick spoke about substituting Lamine Yamal after Barcelona’s 6-1 thrashing of Alaves on Saturday night at Camp Nou.

Yamal scored twice in the game but was replaced after 74 minutes as Flick looked ahead to games against Aston Villa and Atletico Madrid.

Flick is often reluctant to substitute Yamal but said it’s a lot easier after he’s scored two goals in a match.

“When you score two goals, it’s easier to go out,” he told reporters. “I spoke with him at half time [about managing his minutes]. For us, that he has the confidence back with the one vs. one situations, more time and minutes in the second half [is good], but it also important he has less minutes.

“For Lamine it was a great game, but it was good to see the level of the attack: Fermín, Rapha. This is what I want to see after these two defeats. How we react, it was good and in the right way.”

Flick also spoke about playing Frenkie de Jong and Brian Farinas in defence due to the current injury problems he has regarding his backline.

“At the moment we have to think different,” he added. “Four defenders are out in Xavi Espart, Andreas [Christensen], Jules [Koundé] and Eric Garcìa. Hopefully some will come back, but we don’t know when yet. So I asked Frenkie if he’s able to play there; he said ‘Yes, when I can help the team I will do it.’

“The same with Brian. I don’t know if he ever played [at right-back], maybe in La Masia, but he also played a good level. I am happy for him. He deserved these minutes, this game. He is focused, top in training, very professional. This is what we want from him and the players.”