PSG Facing Injury Crisis As Barcelona Present First Big Test
Paris Saint-Germain face their biggest test of the season so far when the Champions League title-holders visit Barcelona this week, but Luis Enrique’s side come into the game in the midst of an injury crisis affecting several of their biggest stars.
The headline absentee is Ousmane Dembele, fresh from winning the Ballon d’Or last week as recognition for his magnificent 2024/25 campaign, in which the France winger scored 35 goals.
How Dembele would have loved to come up against the Catalans, the club he left in 2023 after six years in which he showed moments of brilliance but struggled for consistency — and with injuries.
The 28-year-old could have taken on Lamine Yamal, the teenager who he pipped to the Ballon d’Or award but who did win the Kopa Trophy for the best player in the world last season aged under 21.
But Dembele is still recovering from a thigh injury picked up on international duty with France at the beginning of the month, and is not expected back for at least another couple of weeks.
“It is going well. I will be back very soon,” Dembele told French television after taking the acclaim of the PSG support with the Ballon d’Or trophy following Saturday’s 2-0 win against Auxerre.
Coach Luis Enrique has also been missing Desire Doue, the thrilling 20-year-old attacker who finished second to Yamal in the Kopa Trophy ranking — he has not played since suffering a calf injury on France duty at the same time as Dembele.
Then there is centre-back and captain Marquinhos and all-action Portuguese midfielder Joao Neves, who are nursing thigh and hamstring injuries respectively.
Playmaker Vitinha, third in the Ballon d’Or, came off before half-time at the weekend while Khvicha Kvaratskhelia was withdrawn at the interval.
PSG’s hope is that both players were taken off early enough to prevent any lasting damage, but suddenly Luis Enrique’s options are being drastically reduced.
“We have to stay positive because we need to be able to manage this situation,” the coach, a former Barcelona player and manager, said on Saturday after the win against Auxerre.
“Paris Saint-Germain are not the only team with injuries. It is the case for every team with such an intense calendar.”
