Barcelona winger Dembélé out after left thigh injury

Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembélé will be sidelined for an undetermined time after he injured a muscle in his left leg on Saturday in the 1-0 win at Girona in the Spanish league.

Dembélé has been enjoying his best season at Barcelona. The France forward, who was part of the runner-up team at the World Cup, has scored eight times for Barcelona and is its fastest one-on-one player in open space.

He pulled up after a sprint and soon asked to be substituted. Dembélé walked off the field in the 25th minute and watched the rest of the match, which included his replacement Pedri scoring the winner.

The 25-year-old Dembélé joined Barcelona in 2017 when the club broke its own club record for transfers to acquire him from Borussia Dortmund in a deal, including add-ons, worth 147 million euros (then $175 million).

But a series of injuries limited his playing time and never let him reach the level of play that Barcelona expected – until last season when he started playing well on a consistent basis.

The club did not give an estimate on how long he would be out.

Barcelona leads the Spanish league. It has league games against Real Betis, Sevilla and Villarreal and the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals (rival to be determined) before it plays Manchester United in the Europa League on Feb. 16.

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