Barcelona believe Ousmane Dembele will recover from his injury in time to face Manchester United in the Champions League.
Dembele, 21, has been sidelined for several weeks after playing through the pain and aggravating a hamstring problem during Barca’s 5-1 victory over Lyon in the last round of the competition.
The Frenchman has not featured since the last-16 clash and there were initial fears that Dembele would miss Barca’s trip to Old Trafford for the first leg of their quarter-final on April 10.
However, Dembele has been working relentlessly to get himself fit for the much-anticipated European tie, taking part in intense daily recovery sessions.
According to Mundo Deportivo, the Catalan giants are now confident Dembele will be available in Manchester.
The report claims that Ernesto Valverde could even include Dembele in his squad for Barca’s league clash with title rivals Atletico Madrid on April 6.
Barca boss Valverde hopes to test Dembele’s hamstring versus Atleti before deciding whether or not to start the World Cup-winner against the Red Devils.
Dembele had been in magnificent form prior to his injury – notching up 14 goals and eight assists in all competitions – and his absence would come as a major blow to the Spanish giants.
Valverde admitted that he ‘risked’ Dembele against Lyon because of the magnitude of the fixture.
‘He had some annoyance the day before, but I decided to risk him because it was such a decisive match,’ Valverde said after the win.
‘And, according to the scoreline, I decided to bring him on, although he will now be out for three or four weeks.
‘The feelings that I had before the game was great; he thought he could play without any issues and wanted to start.
‘If it wasn’t for the scoreline, I wouldn’t have put him on.’
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