UEFA Champions League | Barcelona 0-0 Slavia Prague: 3 Talking Points 

#2 Ousmane Dembele fails to lay his marker

Dembele struggled against Slavia Prague

Things have not exactly panned out to plan for Ousmane Dembele ever since he completed his mega move from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona in the summer of 2017.

The French international had been signed for a hefty sum as the club's record signing to replace the PSG-bound Neymar, but a serious injury less than a month into his Barcelona career effectively put paid to his first season with the club.

Since then, recurring injury problems as well as accusations of his lack of professionalism have hampered Dembele's growth and having been dropped from the matchday squad for the defeat to Levante over the weekend, Valverde laid the gauntlet down to the World Cup winner to prove his worth.

That opportunity came against Slavia Prague as the former Rennes man was started from the get-go against the Czechs.

However, despite showing flashes of his brilliance and putting the Slavia defense on the backfoot with his pace, Dembele showed signs of nervousness and made a number of wrong decisions in the final third.

In what was an indictment of his woeful display on the evening, he was substituted for youngster Ansu Fati in the 65th minute and the expression on his face revealed that he knew he had not done enough.

The injury to Luis Suarez offers Ousmane Dembele an opportunity to stake a claim to a starting spot, but having failed to take his opportunity against Slavia Prague, it is hard to imagine that he would get too many opportunities again.