Dembele begins to find his feet at Barcelona

– Two hundred days after becoming Barcelona’s most expensive signing, Ousmane Dembele (right) finally scored his first goal for the club against Chelsea in the Champions League.

Now, the 20-year-old will be hoping to be given the chance to sustain his momentum as Barca turn their attention back to La Liga and the visit of Athletic Bilbao tomorrow.

Dembele cost the club €105 million last summer and that figure could swell to €150m if a number of performance-related bonuses are triggered.

But the former Borussia Dort- mund forward has struggled in his debut season in Spain.

Dembele suffered a hamstring injury on his first league start and did not play again until January, by which time Barca were flying in La Liga and about to sign another attacking talent in Philippe Coutinho.

A superb finish into the top corner put Barca two up in the first half and Dembele’s provider, Lionel Messi, showed his delight by leaping onto his team-mate and slapping his chest.

Barca cannot afford to dwell on their 3-0 win over Chelsea, with Atletico Madrid eager to cut an eight-point gap at the top.

Bilbao, however, are stranded in 12th, too far from either the relegation or European spots and with one day less to rest following their Europa League second leg against Marseille on Thursday.

Atletico, meanwhile, visit Villarreal tomorrow as Diego Simeone’s side desperately look to tug Barca back into a title race.

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane has also refused to discount a comeback, but making up 15 points on Barcelona in their 10 remaining games is unlikely.

Instead, Real can hold off Valencia to finish third while gain- ing rhythm ahead of their Champions League quarterfinal in three weeks.

Gareth Bale will be hoping to win back his place by then after the Welshman was left out of the starting line-up for both last 16 legs against Paris Saint-Germain.

Real are at home tomorrow to Girona, who are seventh and still very much in contention for a Europa League spot in what is the club’s debut season in the top flight.

Elsewhere, fourth-placed Valencia are at home to Alaves today and fifth-placed Sevilla travel to Leganes tomorrow. – AFP