forward Ousmane Dembele (C) celebrates after scoring during the
UEFA Champions League round of 16, second leg football match
between FC Barcelona and Olympique Lyonnais at the Camp Nou stadium
in Barcelona on March 13, 2019. PAU BARRENA / AFP
The bad news continued for Barcelona on Sunday when the
club reported that injury-prone French forward Ousmane Dembele
tweaked his right hamstring in the loss to Cadiz the day
before.
“It is minor and the progress will determine his availability,”
said Barca in a statement.
Spanish media estimated he would be out for one to two
weeks.
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Dembele suffered a string of serious injuries to his right
hamstring last season and appeared in only nine games for
Barcelona. This season he has already played 12 times and scored
four goals, including one in a Champions League victory at
Ferencvaros on Wednesday.
He came on at half-time in Cadiz, with Barcelona already a goal
down in a match they eventually lost 2-1.
He joins a growing injury list at the Camp Nou.
Teenage phenomenon Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto and defender Gerard
Pique all suffered serious injuries in November and will be out
until next year. Defender Samuel Umtiti is another long-term
casualty.
Manager Ronald Koeman has been rotating other players who are
carrying knocks, including goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen and
defender Clement Lenglet. Both returned to the team on Saturday and
made costly errors.
The loss in Cadiz dropped Barcelona to eighth, 12 points behind
leaders Atletico Madrid. Both clubs have played 10 games.
“A gap of 12 points to a team as strong as Atletico Madrid is a
lot,” said Koeman on Saturday.
“There are still games to be played, but if we don’t improve our
attitude and our consistency away from home, we can’t have a
say.”
Ter Stegen made his first error after eight minutes, staying on
his line at a corner and then flapping at a soft close-range header
from Alvaro Gimenez.
With the scores level after 64 minutes, Lenglet, in his won
penalty area, failed to control the ball from a Barcelona throw-in.
Ter Stegen charged out but whiffed on his attempted clearance,
knocking the ball against Alvaro Negredo who rolled it into an
empty net.
“We conceded goals that I can’t think of other teams I’ve
coached letting in,” said Koeman.
“We have to improve. When you don’t have the ball, you have to
go into battle with your opponent. I’m very disappointed.
“The attitude was not good tonight, not only from the
defenders.”
Barcelona have won just four games in La Liga but have been
imperious in the Champions League, winning all five games.
“They are different competitions,” said Koeman. “Defeat is
difficult to explain. We were coming off good games.”
AFP
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