Paris St Germain forward Ousmane Dembele will miss their Ligue 1 trip to Strasbourg with a hamstring strain, manager Luis Enrique said on Friday as the French side look to have him back for next week’s Champions League semi-final second leg against Arsenal.
Dembele is PSG’s top scorer this season with 33 goals in all competitions and also netted the winner in their 1-0 first leg victory at Arsenal, but the 27-year-old came off in the 70th minute, going straight down the tunnel with an apparent injury.
PSG confirmed he had a hamstring strain and that his “condition is progressing well”, with further assessments to be conducted in the coming days.
“Tomorrow he won’t play, that’s for sure,” Luis Enrique told reporters, while also declining to confirm if he will rotate his squad with the Ligue 1 title already in the bag.
“We’re going to do what we’ve been doing up to now, with the same idea. Nothing has changed.
“The most important thing is that every minute spent wearing the PSG jersey is useful for matches in other competitions.”
PSG lost their chance to go an entire league season unbeaten when they suffered a 3-1 defeat by Nice last weekend.
Luis Enrique’s side can still finish the season unbeaten on the road but the Spaniard has no interest in that record as they prepare to face Arsenal on Wednesday and Reims in the French Cup final later this month.
“It’s a match we’re preparing for in the Champions League, in the Coupe de France, not for the unbeaten record,” he said.
“It would be great to win the match in Strasbourg, but the motivation is to prepare for the Champions League match, not to break an unbeaten record.”
PSG have fallen in the Champions League knockout stages in recent years and have the opportunity to return to the final for only the second time as they chase a treble.
“We want to achieve this objective of playing this final, but there is still the semi-final second leg,” said Luis Enrique, who previously won the treble coaching Barcelona.
“There is not much time to rest, you have to manage all of this. We, the coaches, go for the best. I’ve been a top-level coach for several years and it’s part of the job.”