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Barcelona have confirmed Ousmane Dembele is in their travelling squad for Friday’s Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich in Portugal.
The French forward has not made a first-team appearance since November’s win over Borussia Dortmund due to injury but is included in Quique Setien’s 26-man party.
Yet Barcelona sounded a note of caution over the 23-year-old when announcing the squad on their website.
“Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé is in the team despite not having been declared fully fit, and Martin Braithwaite also travels despite not being eligible to play in the competition. Samuel Umtiti, however, will stay in Barcelona to continue his recovery programme.”
Dembele has been back in training with the first team in the build-up to the game, but it remains to be seen if he will be fit enough to play any part in Friday’s crucial fixture.
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Setien Cautious About Dembele
Setien has spoken about Dembele’s fitness and revealed he was close to playing in Friday’s last-16 second leg against Napoli in his pre-match press conference.
“We thought about including him but unfortunately the training sessions that’s he been with the group have been few and the reality is that we don’t want to assume a massive risk.”
Dembele didn’t make the squad for the match which Barcelona won 3-1, but Setien did suggest he could play in the later stages of the tournament if Barca make it that far.
“We thought maybe he could play a few minutes but we will see next week how he evolves, after more practice with the team, how his development is and if maybe then he can participate more.”
The 23-year-old has continued to train with the first-team, seemingly without any setbacks, and has looked in good spirits ahead of the clash with Bayern.
Barcelona are due to fly out to Lisbon on Thursday and have a final training session in the evening at the Estadio de Luz before their quarter-final.
Will Dembele Play?
Setien has already made it clear he will not risk Dembele if there are any doubts about the French forward, meaning he is highly unlikely to start Friday’s game and there’s only an outside chance he will appear as a substitute.
Barca hardly lack for attacking options either with Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, and Ansu Fati all fit and available for the match.
Yet Dembele does offer Barcelona something different up front, and if he can prove his fitness before the tie then Setien may well be tempted to bring him on at some point if Barca are in need of attacking inspiration.
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