Ousmane Dembele was forced by 20 minutes to go from PSG's Champions League semi-final first leg victory over Arsenal, causing Luis enrique to sweat on the fitness of his star man
Ousmane Dembele has confirmed that he will be 'good' after being forced to leave a hamstring injury during PSG's victory over Arsenal. The side of Luis Enrique traveled to the Gunners on Tuesday for the first stage of their Champions League-Half Final.
Dembele only scored the only goal of the game for three minutes when he wiped home from the cutback of Joao Neves. But the French star was then forced to be replaced by another 20 minutes.
He left the Grimas field after a hamstring injury in his right leg, replacing Bradley Barcola. If Dembele is excluded from the second stage, this would be an important boost for the hope of Arsenal to throw up the current shortage.
His goal at the Emirates was his 33rd of the season in all competitions and he also achieved 12 assists. Enrique's decision to make him the center of the team, transformed the season of PSG and let them sweat on his fitness.
The Gunners will hope that he cannot recover on time to appear in the Parc des Princes next Wednesday. But that hope was interrupted by Dembele himself, who brought a farewell message when he stepped into the PSG teamus on Tuesday evening.
According to RMC Sport, when he left the stadium and boarded the coach, Dembele said, “It will be fine.” Although the attacker is convinced that he is recovering rapidly, his boss Enrique was more conservative.
“I don't know,” said the Spaniard when he was asked about Dembele's condition. “He will undergo tests tomorrow. It is not serious. It is something very small, but he is probably a doubt for the second stage.
“We are going to try to get Dembele back on the field. But we are a real team. If Ousmane can play, that is better. But if he doesn't, we will still be a real team. We say that since the start of the season.”
Despite the Wariness van Enrique, Dembele teammates are also convinced that he will make a quick comeback. Achraf Hakimi, with whom Dembele spoke before he left the field, revealed that the Frenchman repeated his message privately to the press.
Hakimi told Canal+: “I spoke to him a bit, he is calm, he told me it is good. I hope he will be with us next Tuesday. He did his work, he scored a goal and he let us end.”
Enrique will certainly like to call on Dembele on the return bone in the French capital next week. He admitted that his party had had to deal with a difficult test against Arsenal and warned them that they still have a struggle to book their place in the May final.
“We think about how difficult this competition was, because the atmosphere in the stadium was incredible. But I think we showed our true mentality, we started well and we gave ourselves trust,” he added.
“I think it's a great moment for us, but we have to recover and think about the next game. The return bone will be difficult and tight. But we are very happy and I think we have given our fans something to cheer about.
“We know that it will be difficult that there will be times of suffering, but with the support of our fans and with the character we have shown, we will show what a real team we are. We are happy, but we can improve. Everyone has to know.”