Paris Saint-Germain confirmed the injured Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué will be stuck on the sidelines for a lengthy spell, ruling the two players out of the club’s Champions League clash with Barcelona.
One of the standout fixtures in the 2025–26 Champions League league phase comes on Oct. 1 when Barcelona host PSG. The defending European champions clashing with last year’s semifinalists promises to be a must-see affair, especially just one week after Lamine Yamal and Dembélé battle for the 2025 Ballon d’Or.
Except the PSG superstar, along with Doué, are now expected to miss the all-important match after sustaining injuries while on international duty. Doué suffered a calf injury in the first half of Les Bleus’ 2–0 win over Ukraine and then Dembélé went down with a hamstring injury in the second half.
PSG announced Doué will be sidelined for four weeks while Dembélé will miss up to six weeks. Barring a massive change in either’s recoveries, the two forwards will not be back in time to face Barcelona.
The blow for PSG is a major boost for Hansi Flick’s side, who are struggling with injury issues of their own; Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, Alejandro Balde and Marc-André ter Stegen are currently stuck in the infirmary while both Yamal and Raphinha suffered fitness scares during the September international window.
Still, Barcelona will likely be the favorites against Luis Enrique’s weakened team come the highly anticipated league phase clash. The Catalans will hope to make a statement after failing to reach the Champions League final for a 10th consecutive season.
Flick will need to get his squad back to its 2024–25 form, though, if he wants to defeat PSG. Barcelona have underwhelmed so far this season, dropping points in a poor 1–1 draw against Rayo Vallecano in their most recent outing.
The defending Spanish champions also needed a mighty second-half comeback to get past newly promoted side Levante the week prior. Such performances will not cut it against the Parisians, even without Dembélé and Doué.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Barcelona Handed Double Injury Boost for Crunch Champions League Tie.