Ousmane Dembele and Desire Doue are set to miss the start of the 2025-26 Champions League campaign with PSG.
Having both played in France’s victory over Ukraine (0-2), the Parisian players will miss several weeks of competition. Starting on the right wing of Didier Deschamps’ 4-2-3-1 system on Friday, Doue was forced to give up his place to his teammate at half-time due to calf pain.
The latter, who had already been taken off due to injury at Toulouse last Saturday, was left on the bench at the start of the match. After returning to training the day before, Dembele was finally given the green light by the medical staff to take part in this opening qualifier for the 2026 World Cup. He came on in the 46th minute but was forced to leave the pitch in the 81st minute with an injury to his right thigh.
“Yes, I was sure (he could play), otherwise I wouldn’t have put him on,” said Deschamps after the game. “What’s more, it was his other thigh. He was in good shape. Unfortunately for him, but it could have happened to any other player. I did what he thought was best, and from a medical point of view, there was no problem.”
According to RMC Sport, Doue has already been ruled out of the home games against RC Lens in Ligue 1 on 14 September and Atalanta in the Champions League three days later. While the precise duration of his unavailability is still unknown, indications suggest it could be as long as three to four weeks.
For Dembele, a six-week absence has been mentioned. Should this be the case, the French forward, hot favourite for the Ballon d’Or, could miss no fewer than five games, including Le Classique against Marseille and the Champions League clash against FC Barcelona.
With the schedule now set to intensify, Luis Enrique will have to cope with two additional injuries, on top of those to Senny Mayulu (adductor) and Fabian Ruiz (muscle discomfort).
