Dembele in Barca squad for United Champions League match

AFP  |  Barcelona 

French striker is close to shaking off a and was named in Ernesto Valverde's squad on Monday for the quarter-finals first-leg at Manchester United.

The 21-year-old winner has excelled on both flanks this season after a slow bedding in process at Barcelona, but has been on the sidelines since March 16 with a thigh muscle problem.

Valverde said he had chosen the in his squad for Wednesday's game because he needed all hands on deck.

"Dembele is on the list despite not yet being fully fit," said Valverde, who added that Dembele had taken part in full training on Monday.

Dembele, who scored in Barcelona's 5-1 victory over in his last outing, had originally been expected to miss four weeks.

The former and forward missed Barca's 2-0 win at Atletico Madrid on Saturday as the club target a La Liga, del Rey and treble they achieved in both 2009 and 2015.

defender will miss the trip to England with his own thigh issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

First Published: Mon, April 08 2019. 21:10 IST