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Frenchman was often shot but shined on Sunday before getting injured
Ousmane Dembele can not take a break.
The French winger posted his best performance in a Barcelona jersey in the Liga leaders' 3-1 win over Leganes on Sunday, but was forced to leave injured after 69 minutes.
After a troubled first year with long periods on the treatment table and an unstable period when his professionalism was questioned earlier in the career, Dembele finally reversed the trend.
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For the first time, the 21-year-old looks like the future of Barcelona and is not limited to an expensive gaffe in the transfer market.
Barcelona has disbursed 147 million euros for Dembele in the summer of 2017, then 160 million euros for Philippe Coutinho in January 2018 while they were trying to fill the void left by Neymar after his transition to PSG.
A year later, it became clear that Dembele was the wisest investment of the two, although for months it looked like a panicky purchase too expensive.
A freezing night in Catalonia attracted only 50,000 spectators from Barcelona, occupying just over half of the stadium. They would have been dismayed to see the replacement of the winner of the Ballon d'Or fivefold.
Messi is one of the reasons why people will see the club and, as opponents are not particularly attractive, at the end of a week when Barcelona hosted two other small teams in Eibar and Levante, its lack of the training was a blow. .
However, Dembele was determined to impress in the absence of Argentina, operating on the right side rather than the left side, a position he seems to prefer.
And several times in the first half, Dembele put the spectators to the test with sublime moments of technique.
This season, Dembele performed well, although minor offenses and bad timing earned him bad press.
However, his teammates have always supported him and promised to help him adapt to life at the club, knowing its vast potential just waiting to be unlocked.
Maybe without the pressure of playing with Messi, who must be intimidating, Dembele felt more comfortable. Or maybe Ernesto Valverde gave him the keys and told him to drive.
Dembele hit Leganes over and over again, attempting 12 dribbling in the first period, completing eight.
This did not mean that he had a unique or selfish spirit, since Dembele was involved in small combined movements at the right time.
The striker also managed to break the deadlock in the Messi-esque way, feeding Jordi Alba and receiving the ball from the defender with whom the Argentinean shares a privileged link and ending skillfully.
Encouraged by Dembele's excellent behavior, Valverde kept him on the right flank after sending Messi in the second half, but minutes later the Frenchman was injured.
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Barcelona will pray that it will not be a serious problem because Dembele offers them solutions that no one else in the team can provide. If Messi has lost half a meter of rhythm over the years, Dembele is more likely to bring him back.
"Dembele has a very good level and has improved since all the controversy.I hope the injury is as minimal as possible," said midfielder Sergio Busquets.
Luis Suarez and Messi have struck to make sure Barcelona take three points here, but if Barcelona wants the treble, the man who looked like trouble will be crucial.
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