"What happened to him", "Why is he not starting" - PSG fans surprised as star absent from XI for clash against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami

Sripad
PSG fans left questioning Dembele
PSG fans left questioning Dembele's position

Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) fans are worried as Ousmane Dembele is on the bench for their clash against Lionel Messi's Inter Miami on Sunday. The Frenchman was not in the squad for any of their group-stage games at the FIFA Club World Cup.

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Dembele has made it to the bench on Sunday after Luis Enrique picked him in the matchday squad to face PSG. Fans online are still puzzled as to why the winger has not started against the Lionel Messi-led side. One fan has questioned if he is sick, writing on X (formerly Twitter):

"Is Dembele sick?"

Several other fans just wanted a straightforward answer, as one wrote:

"What happened to dembele ple [sic]"
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"Why is Dembele not starting?" added another.

One fan even went on to question if the Frenchman will ever pay again and wrote:

"Are we just never gonna play dembele."

One was just grateful for the Champions League win and said:

"DEMBELE CARRIED THE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE AND DISAPPEARED, LMAO"

Luis Enrique seems to be taking his time to add Dembele back to the starting XI after the Frenchman had a long season. He went on to play for France in the UEFA Nations League too before heading to the United States for the tournament.

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Luis Enrique warns PSG players about Lionel Messi

Luis Enrique spoke to the media on Saturday, June 28, and sent a warning to his PSG players ahead of the Inter Miami clash. He claimed that they cannot afford to relax for 10 seconds with Lionel Messi around and said via ESPN:

"Anyone who relaxes for 10 seconds in football already knows where they are. It's not like there's no doubt they have the level and the quality, because they haven't lost that. I've seen all three of Inter Miami's games and some previous ones, and they have that quality. If we're not able to press them, it will be difficult to pressure them."
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"If we're not able to take the ball away from them, things don't look good because Busquets is still the same; Leo Messi is unique on the ball. Luis Suárez, you saw the last goal he scored, what a skill for managing, Jordi Alba coming in deep, he's still the same. We all know Leo's pass to Jordi in the world of football, but it happens again and continues to happen every game, and if they have a coach like Mascherano, it's clear that either we give a great performance and maintain the necessary level of intensity, or they'll win the game, easy, there's no doubt about that."

Lionel Messi's Inter Miami and PSG are battling it out for a place in the quarterfinals at the FIFA Club World Cup. This is the first-ever meeting between the two sides and the first time the Argentine will be facing the Ligue 1 side since leaving in 2023.

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Edited by Aditya Singh
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