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• Flick: Barcelona need to learn how to win without Yamal

  Hansi Flick has urged Barcelona to find a way to win without the absent Lamine Yamal, as he misses a second consecutive match with an ankle injury.

  The 17-year-old missed their 1-0 loss at Real Sociedad which halted Barca's seven-match winning streak in all competitions before the international break.

  Yamal has only missed two LaLiga matches since the start of last season, while Barcelona have lost both games this campaign in which he has not started, after coming off the bench in a 4-2 loss to Osasuna in September.

  Flick said that his players need to show that they can win without their teenage sensation.

  "Tomorrow I will put the question to the team, it will be a very good question for them [if they can win without Yamal]," Flick told a press conference on Friday.

  "Against Real Sociedad, we didn't play well, and it wasn't because of Lamine's absence. He is a very important player for us, but we have options to also play well without him.

  "He won't be able to play tomorrow, we don't know when he will be able to go back from his injury, but what is clear for me is that we want him to be back only when he is 100% recovered."

  Yamal played a big role in Spain's European Championship title win earlier this year in Germany, winning the best goal and the Young Player of the Tournament award in his breakthrough campaign.

  He continued to thrive this season with five goals and seven assists to help Barca to the top of the LaLiga standings on 33 points, six ahead of rivals Real Madrid, who have a game in hand in second place.

  Yamal is also the only player across Europe's big five leagues to complete 25+ dribbles (34), create 25+ chances (26), have 25+ shots (39), score 5+ goals (five) and provide 5+ assists (seven).

  Flick suggested that he may have to adjust his system, as it is hard to replace a player with such a mixture of speed, technique and finishing.

  "We might be a bit limited by the absence of Lamine," Flick said.

  "But we have a lot of players with great quality, and they can play in different positions. We'll see what we'll need and we'll design the game plan.

  "It's always important after the international break to come back strong and with confidence. That's our goal for tomorrow."

• Moca FC's Baez, Correa sanctioned by Concacaf Disciplinary Committee for violent conduct in Carib Cup semis clash against Cavalier

  The Concacaf Disciplinary Committee has sanctioned players Miguel Baez and Jesus Correa of Dominican Republic club Moca FC for incidents that occurred during their Concacaf Caribbean Cup second-leg semi-final match against Jamaica’s Cavalier FC on Thursday, October 30. 

  After considering the documentation and evidence gathered during its investigation and based on the competition regulations and the applicable disciplinary code, the Disciplinary Committee has imposed Miguel Baez a six-match suspension and Jesus Correa a three-match suspension for violent conduct.

  The sanctions include the automatic one-match suspension for the on-field direct red cards given to each player during that 7-0 beating in Kingston.

  Both Baez and Correa must serve their suspensions during the upcoming 2024 Concacaf Caribbean Cup third-place matches and future editions of the competition. 

  Moca FC is scheduled to meet Haiti's Real Hope FC in that home-and-away tie on November 26 and December 3 to determine the next Caribbean representative that will contest next year's Concacaf Champions Cup. Finalists Cavalier and Cibao FC, also of the Dominican Republic, have secured automatic berths.

  Meanwhile, the Disciplinary Committee has also warned the players and the club that more severe sanctions could be taken should incidents occur during future matches.

   

• Holders Spain drawn against the Netherlands in Nations League quarters

  Reigning champions Spain have been drawn against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the Nations League.  

  Spain won five of their six games in Group A4, and will face the Dutch for the first time in a competitive match since their 5-1 defeat at the World Cup in 2014. 

  France, who emerged victorious in the 2020-21 edition of the Nations League, will take on Croatia in a repeat of their World Cup final meeting six years ago. 

  Germany will face Italy while Portugal, who were the inaugural winners of the tournament, were drawn against Denmark, with the two-legged fixtures taking place in March. 

  The semi-finals are single legs which will get underway in June, with the third-place play-off and final to be played three days later.

  European champions Spain, Portugal and Germany topped their groups without losing a game to go into the seeded teams' pot along with France.

  The winner of Spain's enticing tie with the Netherlands will play either France or Croatia, while Cristiano Ronaldo will be looking to inspire Portugal to a second title. 

  Only Sweden's Viktor Gyokeres (nine), Norway's Erling Haaland (seven) and Romania's Razvan Marin (six) have scored more goals in this year's edition than Ronaldo (five). 

  Scotland, who finished third in Group A1 behind Portugal and Croatia, will face Greece in a Nations League play-off to remain in the top tier of the competition.

  The other play-off games will see Turkey face Hungary, Ukraine take on Belgium, and Austria square off against Serbia in March.