90min

Ousmane Dembele Ruled Out of Juventus Clash With Hamstring Injury

By Tom Gott

Ousmane Dembele is set for a spell on the sidelines
Ousmane Dembele is set for a spell on the sidelines / Soccrates Images/Getty Images
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Barcelona have confirmed that French forward Ousmane Dembele will miss Tuesday's meeting with Juventus after picking up a hamstring injury in Saturday's humiliating 2-1 loss to Cadiz.

Dembele came off the bench at half-time and did manage to finish the game, but he was seen holding his hamstring and Barcelona fans were immediately fearing the worst as the 23-year-old has an abysmal history when it comes to muscular injuries.

Dembele came on at half-time
Dembele came on at half-time / Soccrates Images/Getty Images

Fortunately, Barcelona took to their official website to confirm that this latest issue is nothing too severe, but it will force Dembele to miss Tuesday's decisive meeting with Juventus at the very least.

There's no mention of just how long Dembele will be sidelined, with Barcelona instead suggesting that his progress will dictate his return date.

Marca anticipate that Dembele will miss between one and two weeks, so there's a good chance that he will be unavailable for the visit of Levante on Sunday, while his involvement in subsequent meetings with Real Sociedad and Valencia also appears to be in doubt.

Given Dembele's wretched history with hamstring issues, Barcelona will likely avoid taking any risks with the Frenchman. AS are confident that he'll be kept on the sidelines for the next two weeks, and he may even stay on the treatment table for a little while longer until club doctors are 100% satisfied that Dembele will not suffer a relapse of the issue.

Ronald Koeman already has plenty of injury problems to deal with. Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto and Gerard Pique are all expected to miss the next few months, while plenty of his players have needed rests in recent weeks.

Fortunately, even without Dembele and Fati, Koeman does still have plenty of options in attack. Lionel Messi, Antoine Griezmann, Philippe Coutinho and Martin Braithwaite started against Cadiz, with Pedri and Francisco Trincao joining Dembele on the bench.

Koeman has a dilemma on his hands
Koeman has a dilemma on his hands / Soccrates Images/Getty Images

It remains to be seen which lineup Koeman will go with against Juventus, but with top spot in the group on the line, the boss will undoubtedly be keen to field his best-possible side.

Barcelona are three points ahead of Juventus in Group G and will finish top of the table as long as they avoid losing by three goals.

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