Barca winger Dembele out for 15 days

Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele will spend two weeks on the sidelines after suffering a sprained left ankle during the 3-1 LaLiga win over Leganes.

Dembele opened the scoring with his 13th goal of the season in all competitions but made way for Malcom in the 69th minute.

The 21-year-old France international clashed with head coach Ernesto Valverde over disciplinary matters earlier this season after injuries blighted his debut campaign at Camp Nou.

But Dembele is now an increasingly important member of the Barcelona first-team and the news that he is likely to be available before the Champions League last-16 meeting with Lyon is a significant boost to Valverde.

A club statement read: “Tests carried out on first-team player Ousmane Dembele have confirmed a sprained ankle that will keep him out of action for approximately 15 days.”

Dembele is thus expected to miss both legs of the Copa del Rey quarter-final against Sevilla and LaLiga clashes with Girona and Valencia.

INJURY UPDATE
Find out the extent of @Dembouz‘s injury and how long he’ll be out!
 https://t.co/JYbD4zZnpx
#ForçaBarça pic.twitter.com/tq4OClxLgC

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 21, 2019

Meanwhile, Leganes have sought clarification from the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) and the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA) regarding Luis Suarez’s pivotal second goal in Sunday’s match.

Suarez challenged Ivan Cuellar for the ball, meeting it on the volley to restore Barca’s lead as the visiting goalkeeper tried to gather.

Leganes believe the incident should have been ruled as a foul against Cuellar and want an explanation over why the goal was not overturned by a VAR review.

CD Leganés, alongside their president Victoria Pavón, have formally and respectfully requested via email a clarification to the RFEF and to the CTA regarding the interpretation of the incident between Iván Cuéllar and Luis Suárez on yesterday’s match. pic.twitter.com/hQfns6D2nA

— C.D. Leganés  (@CDLeganes_en) January 21, 2019