still injured, Ousmane Dembélé accumulates pips in Barcelona

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But where did the young Rennes winger with two silver feet, crowned Ligue 1 best prospect in 2016, go? Have we lost the star in the making of Dortmund who imposed himself as the natural replacement of Neymar at Barça? The recurring injuries of Ousmane Dembélé constitute, in any case, a sacred obstacle in the progress of the French winger.

The latest example, the 24-year-old suffers from a strain on the back of the left thigh, and will miss the displacement of the Blaugranas in Vigo. His club did not indicate, Thursday, November 4, the length of absence. But this is yet another relapse for Dembélé, who had just returned from injury. The one too many?

Since the start of the season, the French international (27 caps, 4 goals) played 25 minutes in Kiev on Tuesday (1-0). The consequence of a hamstring injury that occurred five months earlier, at the Euro against Hungary (1-1). Almost routine for Dembélé, who has accumulated 13 pips since arriving in Barcelona in August 2017.

If some medical concerns turned out to be benign, the native of Vernon was arrested several times over long periods. And this from his first steps in Catalonia: two weeks after his transfer, a rupture of the tendon of the biceps femoris had kept him away for three and a half months. For the most part muscular, these physical glitches have questioned the other side of the Pyrenees.

Ousmane Dembélé’s diet, for example, has been singled out by some Spanish media. “My hygiene of life is very good. It is not that which made that I am often injured in the past”, he declared in April on beIN Sports. The player is not necessarily the only one responsible for the situation, especially as the Barcelona medical staff is criticized by part of the locker room according to the Iberian press. Many players, like Pedri, Sergio Agüero or Martin Braithwaite, are all in care for several weeks.

Amid the setbacks of his Barcelona adventure, the 2019-2020 season is undoubtedly the most traumatic. Absent from November to August, in an exercise truncated by the Covid-19, “Dembouz” helplessly witnessed the historic debacle of his family against Bayern (2-8). The previous year, already, he had failed Barça in the semi-finals of the Champions League in Liverpool (0-4).

Another symbol of Ousmane Dembélé’s physical fragility: on October 24, he missed his 4th Clasico out of nine possible (victory of the Real Madrid, 1-2). In all, since signing for Barça, he has spent 670 out of 1,532 days in the infirmary. That is 44% of the time. And again, the total does not include periods of recovery during which the French was not in full possession of his means. Too thin, for the one who cost more than 100 million euros to FC Barcelona.

Absences all the more frustrating as, when he is able to play, the former Rennais often performs well. In 2020-21, he completed the most complete of his four exercises in Catalonia with six goals scored and a top-notch performance at the Parc des Princes in the Champions League. Alas, his injuries in June and then in November question his ability to regain his best level.

At 24, the train of the France team may have already passed for Dembélé. Between injuries, bad shapes and strong competition, he has only held twice since the 2018 World Cup. Since his first cap in 2016, he has worn the Coq jersey 27 times. In comparison, Kylian Mbappé, launched by Deschamps a year later, has twice as many selections.


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