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French winger Ousmane Dembele was today named in a 26-man Barcelona squad that will travel to Lisbon to play in the latter stages of the UEFA Champions League.
The Frenchman has been out of action since early February when he underwent surgery for a reported hamstring injury.
Barcelona coach Quique Setien said before the team's clash against Napoli that Dembele was close to returning to full first-team training.
Setien had said that even though he was training well individually, Dembele could not be named in the Barcelona squad for that game. The Frenchman hadn't taken part in enough team training sessions to be in contention for selection.
Dembele has only made nine appearances so far this season, out of which four have been in the Champions League. He hasn't yet started in the elite European competition this season and has only made three LaLiga starts overall.
Even if he does feature in the final phase of the competition, it is likely that Setien will only use Dembele as a substitute. The likes of Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, and even Martin Braithwaite are right now more probable to start than the Frenchman.
Dembele has completed a full 90 minutes only 10 times. He has only appeared in 74 games for Barcelona since his big-money switch from Borussia Dortmund in 2017.
Along with Dembele, Sergio Busquets and Arturo Vidal also made their returns to the Barcelona squad. The midfield duo missed out on the second-leg against Napoli, which Barca won 3-1. Both Busquets and Vidal were suspended for that particular game.
Barcelona renew their rivalry with Bayern Munich on Friday night, as the two giants face each other at Benfica's Estadio da Luz in the quarter-finals.
The winner of this game will face either Manchester City or Lyon in the semi-final on Wednesday, August 19, at the Estadio Jose Alvalade, which is the home of Sporting Lisbon.
Full Barcelona squad to travel to Lisbon
Goalkeepers: Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Neto, Inaki Pena
Defenders: Gerard Pique, Clement Lenglet, Nelson Semedo, Jordi Alba, Junior Firpo, Ronald Araujo, Oscar Mingueza
Midfielders: Sergio Busquets, Ivan Rakitic, Frenkie de Jong, Arturo Vidal, Sergi Roberto, Riqui Puig, Monchu, Konrad de la Fuente, Ludovit Reis, Jandro Orellana
Forwards: Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Antoine Griezmann, Ousmane Dembele, Martin Braithwaite, Ansu Fati
