Thanks to its victory on the wire in Levante (3-2 with a goal from De Jong in added time), FC Barcelona regained second place in La Liga behind Real Madrid. With, once again, a great performance from Ousmane Dembélé.
Author of a perfect cross for the head of Aubameyang on the equalizing goal at 1-1 from Barça, the French signed his eleventh assist of the season when he played only… fourteen games (ten starts, four entries into play). This allowed him to join his compatriot Karim Benzema at the top of the smugglers’ ranking.
“I think Ousmane knows me well and I’m always ready when he goes to the right, explains Aubameyang, who had already worked with him in Dortmund. Now the defenders are watching me closely, but I can do a lot more. In the first half I didn’t play well, in the second half better. But you have to put more intensity, I’m the first to put the pressure. »
Injured at the start of the season, Dembélé was then kicked out of the group in January for his refusal to extend his contract in Catalonia (his salary demands were considered far too high) or to leave the club before the end of the winter transfer window. Since Xavi reinstated him in his starting XI, the French international has been extremely convincing.
To the point of finally extending his Barcelona adventure? For Aubameyang, the question does not even arise. “He must stay”, asserts the Gabonese. Asked at a press conference before the match, FC Barcelona vice-president Rafa Yuste hinted that the contract extension was on the right track. “Dembele is very happy, I see him better than ever, he slipped. There are still a lot of negotiations and we will see what happens. But the intention to extend it is there…”
Last week, Mateu Alemany, sporting director of the Catalan club, traveled to Morocco to meet Moussa Sissoko, the agent of the former Rennais, whom Xavi wants to make one of the centerpieces of his team in the seasons to come. to come. In this case, PSG remains on the lookout…
