Why isn’t Ousmane Dembélé playing for PSG against Monaco in the Champions League?

Paris Saint Germain will have to navigate the tough test of AS Monaco in the second leg of the Champions League playoff round without the presence of their Ballon d’Or holder, Ousmane Dembélé.

The French winger will play no part in proceedings at the Parc de Princes after he suffered a knock to his calf in the first leg of the game, forcing his early withdrawal from the pitch by manager Luis Enrique.

In the days following the game he spent some time in the gym away from his teammates but has failed to recover in time and did not make Luis Enrique’s squad list for the home game tonight in the French capital. Injuries have been a constant plague on his season so far, and physical problems have seen Dembélé miss 12 games already.

PSG flying despite injury concerns

As well as Dembélé, PSG are also set to be without star midfielder Fabián Ruíz, who is also suffering from an injury. Senny Mayulu and Quentin Ndjantou will also miss out.

Désiré Doué, however, who was taken off early in the 3-0 Ligue 1 win over Metz (and who led PSG’s charge in the first leg of the Monaco tie), does look to be fully fit and firing for the game.

In the aforementioned first leg, Monaco raced to a stunning 2-0 lead thanks to goals from USMNT star Folarin Balogun, before PSG fought back and eventually won the game 2-3.

PSG are looking to do what very few teams in European history have done and win back-to-back European Cups, with only Real Madrid the team to do so in the modern era, having won three Champions League trophies in a row between 2016 and 2019. Prior to that, AC Milan won 2 in a row between 1988 and 1990.

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