Barcelona take on Manchester United in the Champions League at Old Trafford on Wednesday and before that their manager is sweating over the fitness of Ousmane Dembele.
The Frenchman suffered a thigh injury in the victory over Lyon in this very same competition last month and it was almost certain that he would miss both the legs of the quarter-finals.
But then he shocked everyone by making an early return after he was pictured at the training grounds last week.
Immediately after this, multiple reports claimed that Ousmane Dembele will not only be fit to face Man United but he would also play against Atletico Madrid.
Unfortunately, the latter did not happen after Valverde revealed that the youngster was not fit to play in the domestic game this past weekend.
“He is not going to be available tomorrow and we do not know if he will be on Wednesday either,” Valverde said in a press conference on Friday.
“We don’t want to risk him, either tomorrow or Wednesday and then have a bigger problem in the matches that are coming up. We will see how he is doing. For sure, tomorrow he will be out.”
This meant that Ousmane Dembele is also a doubt for the Champions League clash which is a huge setback for the Catalans given the Frenchman had finally started showing his potential.
But now fresh reports are claiming that Valverde did not risk Ousmane Dembele vs Atletico in order to ensure that he remains fully fit when Barcelona take on Man United.
The reports are claiming that Ousmane Dembele has recovered well and will most certainly be named in the first XI on Wednesday.
If this happens, then he will replace the underperforming Philippe Coutinho and the Brazilian will drop down to the bench once again.
Read: Barcelona’s predicted line up vs Man United.
Read: Ernesto Valverde reveals how Man United could hurt Barcelona at Old Trafford.
