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Dembele doubtful for Barcelona Champions League clash with Juventus after suffering hamstring injury
The Spanish giants have been dealt a fresh blow ahead of their final group stage encounter this coming week
Ousmane Dembele has emerged as a doubt for Barcelona's clash with Juventus after suffering a hamstring injury.
Dembele came on as a substitute during Barca's surprise 2-1 loss to Cadiz on Saturday, which left Ronald Koeman's side 12 points adrift of current Liga leaders Atletico Madrid.
The French winger was introduced after the break with the Blaugrana already 1-0 down to an Alvaro Gimenez effort, and had a positive impact initially as the visitors pushed for an equaliser.
Koeman's men got the leveller their pressure deserved when Jordi Alba's cross was turned into his own net by Pedro Alcala, but calamitous defending allowed the hosts to regain the advantage moments later.
Alvaro Negredo successfully chased down a short backpass to Marc-Andre ter Stegen before tapping into an empty net, and Cadiz held on for a famous victory to move up to fifth in the table.
Dembele completed the match without any problems, but Barca have now revealed that he picked up a knock which could see him miss the Champions League group stage showdown against Juve at Camp Nou on Tuesday.
"Tests on Sunday morning, December 6, have shown that first-team player Ousmane Dembele has a hamstring elongation," a statement on the club's official website read. "He will therefore not be considered for selection and the evolution of the injury will determine his availability.
"Against Cadiz, the French winger, coming off the bench, participated in his 12th game of the year and had, to that point, scored four goals."
Persistent fitness issues have prevented Dembele from fulfilling his potential in a Barca shirt since his £117 million ($157m) move from Borussia Dortmund in the summer of 2017.
The 23-year-old missed the second half of the 2019-20 campaign after undergoing surgery on a more serious hamstring injury, but he has appeared in 12 matches for the Spanish giants since returning to action at the start of the new season.
Although Barca are safely through to the Champions League knockout stages already, they will be aiming to secure top spot in Group G when they play host to Juve later this week.
