3 players who could start for Barca in Ousmane Dembele's absence

Barcelona confirmed on Monday that Ousmane Dembele will miss the next 15 days with an ankle injury he picked up against Leganes on Sunday.

The French forward limped off in the second half of the 3-1 win after getting on the scoresheet. He’ll now miss the next couple of weeks, including both the Copa Del Rey quarterfinal fixtures against Sevilla and the La Liga fixtures against Girona and Valencia.

Ousmane Dembele began the season nicely, with scoring the winner in the Spanish Super Cup, scoring in the three consecutive La Liga matches and a beautiful solo goal against PSV. But things started going south when he was accused with either not arriving for training or turning up late. He was also faced with dietary and disciplinary issues.

Since then, Dembele has stepped up his game with scoring a late equalizer against Atletico Madrid in a crucial league fixture, scored a goal of the week winner solo goal against Tottenham Hotspur. He also helped in the comeback against Levante in Copa Del Rey by scoring a brace.

The French wonder kid had largely remained injury free this season with 13 goals and contribute five assists in 27 appearances. Surely Ernesto Valverde is going to miss him in the lineup, but he can start other players in his absence. They are as follows:

#3 Carles Alena

Carles Alena is one of the best graduates to emerge from La Masia in quite a few years. The 21-year-old La Masia graduate has made only 9 appearances for Barcelona, yet from what little we have seen of him play we could see that he is a guy who could make a difference in games. He is always ready to receive possession and has shown maturity beyond his years.

Alena has made 9 appearances for Barcelona and has scored a single goal. He would have to fight for his starting spot on the team due to the presence of more experienced players. Now with Dembele's absence, Alena would have to make the most out of chances given to him by Valverde. But this will happen only if Ernesto Valverde doesn't start one of the other two players on the list.

#2 Arturo Vidal

Arturo Vidal is the box-to-box midfielder Barcelona never knew they needed. When he was signed from the Bundesliga giants, Bayern Munich for £20m he came here with lots of criticism. Pundits said that he would never match playing style of Barcelona, he does not have the technical skill set required for playing at Camp Nou. What the critics and pundits did miss was his contributions in both the attacking and defensive areas. Vidal is that type of player who could run the full 90 minutes non-stop to maintain possession.

Valverde usually plays the 4-3-3 or 4-4-2 formation with Sergio Busquets being at the heart of the team. With Vidal in the starting line-up, the burden is equally shared by both. At the attacking half, with Suarez, he spearheads the pressure and his gruelling tackling ability has helped in the defensive area to win back the ball and in the attacking half to maintain possession. Vidal has made 25 appearances, scored two goals and assisted 3 goals so far. He acts as a workhorse for the team and now he has the opportunity to put some other powerful performances to delight the fans and silence the critics.

#1 Philippe Coutinho

The Brazilian Magician is going to play an important role for Barcelona in all competitions

The life of the former Liverpool superstar has been a tad difficult from the start of this season. At the start of the season, Coutinho was an undisputed starter and Dembele was on the bench. Now ,after 6 months the tables have turned with Dembele being a nailed-on starter and Coutinho on the bench. Injuries have played a prominent part in diminishing the role of Brazilian. Other than that he is suffering from other issues like heavy competition, pressure from fans to fill in Iniesta's shoes, the rise of Ousmane Dembele etc. Despite all of the problems (for me), he is being unfairly criticized.

Philippe Coutinho is that guy who can unlock the most rigid of defences and can turn the game in his team's favour in the blink of the eye. His ability to hit long-range goals, dish out perfect passes for his teammates and his dazzling runs cannot be ignored. He can play in the attack as a winger and in midfield, he is comfortable in any position. He has made 27 appearances for Barcelona and scored 6 goals and contributed with 5 assists.

It is no doubt that Coutinho will return to his best as European football returns next month, with Copa Del Rey quarterfinals on Wednesday and Dembele having his treatment, NOW is the perfect time to strike the red hot iron

Just as a Phoenix burns only to rise from his own ashes, similarly Coutinho is going through a tough phase and he will rise to prove the world that he is one of the best midfielders in the world.

Edited by Liam Wraith