Barcelona get boost as Ousmane Dembele is back training
The only focus for Barcelona is on their match against Napoli.
With the obvious exception of Arthur Melo, the rest of the Barcelona squad returned yesterday. After their coronavirus tests came back negative, the club practiced with some familiar faces taking part.
In addition to the returns of the injured Antoine Griezmann and Clement Lenglet, fellow Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé’s reappearance was a welcome sight.
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According to Sport, Dembélé’ did some light training with the rest of the group and it has not been ruled out that he could be fit in time for the Champions League.
Dembélé has been out since February with a hamstring injury. He underwent surgery and was ruled out for six months. He is close to reaching his full recovery time and he even posted a picture on his Instagram on his day back.
Manager Quique Setien mentioned that he was hopeful that he would be able to count on him and it is not out of the realm of possibility that he might feature against Napoli.
A few Barcelona players face a rush to be fit.
As mentioned, Griezmann and Lenglet also took part in training. Griezmann missed the last two games of the season but is expected to be ready in time and should feature against Napoli. Whether from the start or as a sub will be left up to Setien.
Lenglet suffered a groin injury in their last match of the season against Alaves and was forced off during the first-half. His recovery is more up in the air and it is still unclear whether he will be fit in time.
Barcelona should be more worried about missing Lenglet than Griezmann because as it stands, their only healthy center-back is Gerard Pique. Ronald Araujo, is also questionable as he picked up an injury in Barça B’s loss against Sabadell.
There are no other options at center-back with Samuel Umtiti also unavailable.
Depending on who is available and who isn’t the Catalans best bet against Napoli might be to simply outscore them. Which is why Dembélé’s potential return could be key. If Napoli are forced to chase the game, the Frenchman’s pace would be ideal to exploit on the counterattack.
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Even if Dembélé isn’t fit in time, Barcelona should have enough to get past the Serie A side. It’s after that when he might be of more value as the club are going to need all the help they can get when they come up against the favorites in Bayern Munich.