Luis Enrique provides Ousmane Dembele injury update ahead of Champions League final with Arsenal

Luis Enrique allayed fears that Ousmane Dembele may have picked up a serious injury after Paris Saint-Germain’s defeat to Paris FC, suggesting the forward was simply suffering with ‘fatigue’.

Dembele was given the nod for his 11 start of the Ligue 1 season on Sunday, despite the club already having wrapped up a fifth straight title with victory over Lens in the week.

But the 29-year-old forward – the current Ballon d’Or holder – was forced off just 27 minutes into the contest, with Goncalo Ramos coming on in his place at Paris FC’s Stade Jean-Bouin.

Dembele appeared to be struggling with a suspected thigh problem and proceeded to walk straight down the tunnel towards the away dressing room in the French capital.

Given PSG’s Champions League final clash with Arsenal takes place in under a fortnight’s time, Enrique would no doubt have been sweating on the touchline, with one of his key men clearly in some discomfort.

Dembele has struggled for fitness throughout the campaign, picking up two separate calf injuries and missing a month of the season with a hamstring issue sustained in September.

France head coach Didier Deschamps may also have been watching on with concern having named the attacker in his 26-man World Cup just days earlier.

The evening soon went from bad to worse for the European champions against their city rivals, with Alimami Gory completing a brace – after Bradley Barcola’s opener – to seal the hosts a shock 2-1 win.

Asked for an update on Dembele’s condition shortly after the final whistle, Enrique told Ligue 1+: ‘He’s fine. I hope it’s nothing serious.’

Soon afterwards at his post-match press conference, the PSG boss was pushed to elaborate on what exactly had forced Dembele from the field, to which he replied: ‘I think it’s just fatigue.

‘What we’re saying today is just speculation, but I don’t think it’s anything serious, and there are still two weeks left.’

Despite his side being crowned Ligue 1 champions last Wednesday, Enrique couldn’t hide his disappointment with the performance he saw from his players on the night.

‘I am a little disappointed. [There was] nothing, absolutely nothing positive about this match,’ the Spaniard told reporters.

‘When you play football without ambition and intensity, these things happen.

‘I knew before the match how difficult it was for the players to play this type of game without any objective, but I’m still a little disappointed.’

Enrique continued: ‘I know and understand all the players, but being a Paris Saint-Germain player, for me, has to be different, and I expect much more from my players.

‘I always expect much more from the players and that’s how I think… it’s a professional thing to do. They had the intention, but I repeat, without intensity and ambition, it’s difficult to play football.

‘It’s difficult to play this type of match, but I think my players have to overcome difficult matches and matches where it’s hard to stay motivated. But that’s all.’

PSG are also closely monitoring the fitness of Willian Pacho, who was named man of the match in the second leg of the side’s Champions League semi-final triumph over Bayern Munich.

The central defender is understood to be experiencing discomfort in his right thigh and has not featured since the Allianz Arena clash.

Nuno Mendes (dead leg), Achraf Hakimi, Lucas Chevalier and Quentin Ndjantou (all hamstring) were PSG’s other notable absentees at the weekend.

Arsenal have been struck down by injuries of their own in the lead-up to this month’s showpiece event in Budapest, with Jurrien Timber still yet to return from the groin problem he suffered in mid-March.

His replacement at right-back, Ben White, subsequently went down with a ‘significant’ knee injury, ruling him out for the remainder of the season, while Riccardo Calafiori is nursing an unspecified issue.

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