?Antoine Griezmann has offered his backing to Barcelona teammate Ousmane Dembele, who suffered another injury setback having just returned to the first-team fold from a hamstring injury.
The Frenchman has been plagued by injuries during his time in Catalonia, ever since joining the club in a monstrous £135.5m deal from Borussia Dortmund two summers ago. Having seemingly suffered another hamstring strain after coming on as a substitute in Barça’s 2-1 win over Villarreal, the winger was subsequently left out of the squad for the following match against Getafe – with Ernesto Valverde confirming the injury.
?Dembele is now a serious doubt for the Champions League clash with Inter, as he continues his rehabilitation, with fellow French international teammate Griezmann (via ?Tiempo de Juego) insisting he is working hard to return to the first-team.
Griezmann confirmed the 22-year-old is arriving to training early in order to ‘strengthen’ his body, while also offering him and his side’s ‘help’ to see him return to full fitness.
An opening Champions League group clash with Borussia Dortmund finished honours even after Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved Marco Reus’ penalty, meaning the Camp Nou encounter will offer Valverde’s men the chance to stamp their authority on the group – which currently hangs in the balance with all sides on one point.
In domestic terms, ?La Blaugrana will be hoping to see Dembele return sooner rather than later after a stuttering start in ?La Liga. Two losses from their first seven matches has left them on 13 points and sitting in fourth. Although, they are just two points shy of league leader Real Madrid.
Dembele has only managed two league outings thus far due to his persistent hamstring issues, while last season his 29 appearances resulted in a more than respectable eight goals and five assists.
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