What if Ousmane Dembélé played against Arsenal? The player seen in training

Will we be able to see Ousmane Dembélé on the ground against Arsenal for the semi-final return of C1? This is what shots published by PSG suggests.

In the early evening, Ousmane Dembélé appeared on the photos of players in training posted on social networks by PSG. Asked for more details, the club did not follow up.

But this return to collective session is very good omen for the participation of Ousmane Dembélé in Wednesday evening match, after which PSG hopes to qualify for the Champions League final.

Object of all the attention of the medical staff

Dembélé was not on the trip to Strasbourg on Saturday in Ligue 1 (2-1 defeat) and is the subject of all the attention of the Parisian medical staff.

Last Tuesday, its release at 70^e minute of the semi-final first leg had been as sudden as it is inserted, while PSG tried to hold the scoring after its goal of a skilled recovery in the 4th minute.

On the face of the Parisian, the mixture of grimaces and half-sourres did not announce a large injury synonymous with long-lasting absence.

The “doubt” on his participation in the return, mentioned by coach Luis Enrique, was quickly tempered. “I felt something but it’s okay,” said Dembélé himself, going up on the bus in London. A club press release on Friday announced the diagnosis: “muscle stretch of the hamstrings”, and wanted to be reassuring: “Its situation evolves favorably. »»

Unstable

Unlike previous years, when the club approaches spring deadlines trembled at the slightest physical glitch of a Neymar or Marco Verratti, serenity has dominated since the return of London. The club, however, aims, on Wednesday, the accession to the final of a competition which has obsessive it since the acquisition by Qatar in 2011.

The result obtained at the Emirates Stadium, excellent with regard to the dry defeat conceded on the same lawn on October 1 in the league phase (2-0), and more generally a second half of the euphoric season with in particular the elimination of Liverpool in the round of 16, explain this tranquility.

And yet, despite the words of a Luis Enrique always anxious to celebrate the team rather than an individuality, PSG depends in part on the yield of Dembélé, long untenable in 2025.

28 goals scored

The winger has scored 28 goals since its replacement in number 9 by Luis Enrique, in December. No attacker has done better in Europe over the same period, especially since counting the assists, Dembélé reaches this season the 45 decisive gestures with PSG. To his panoply of dribbler and smuggler, Ousmane Dembélé added an instinct of scorer who has surpassed all expectations.

And against Arsenal to the Emirates, beyond its goal, there were incessant efforts in the pressing or the dropouts from the tip to build the game.

What alternatives?

Even given, will Ousmane Dembélé be holder? The question is all the more pressing as the alternatives are not well convincing. No player has excelled like him in this position of “false new” advocated by Luis Enrique.
Gonçalo Ramos has more an old-fashioned center-center profile, which plays in one or two keys.

Bradley Barcola, put on the bench since the arrival of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia this winter and the rise of Désiré Doué, is above all a good winger, as he showed in Strasbourg on Saturday with his goal on a tumble on the left side. He has almost no reference to the new position. Gifted or Lee Kang-in finally did not convince in this register either.

More generally, PSG hopes to find the one who has become his leader this season after the departure of Kylian Mbappé. Ousmane Dembélé had announced his intention to take up new responsibilities, and until then he has joined the gesture to speech. And again Wednesday?