Dembele next in line for all the praise?

BARCELONA: Barcelona FC forward Ousmane Dembele’s muchlauded performance in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Chelsea saw the Frenchman take a step towards repaying the club’s huge outlay on him after a debut season in Spain which has been blighted by injury.

Evergreen Lionel Messi was the name on everyone’s lips after capping another mesmeric Champions League display with two goals in the last-16 second leg win which set up a 4-1 aggregate victory, but Dembele was next in line for praise.

The 20-year-old striker struck his first goal in a Barcelona jersey since his $129 80 million move from Borussia Dortmund in August last year to put Barcelona 2-0 up, ruthlessly rifling home a pass from Messi.

He then pleasantly surprised his team’s supporters with a perfectly-timed tackle to foil Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso in the second half.

Dembele’s dream move to Barcelona got off to a nightmare start when he ruptured his hamstring on his first Liga start against Getafe in September, forcing him on to the sidelines for nearly four months.

He sustained another muscle problem on his return to action in January.

His misfortune with injuries did not give him any protection from the notoriously unforgiving Spanish media, and some reports suggested he was isolated from the rest of the squad and questioned whether he had the mentality to succeed at Barcelona. – Reuters