Ousmane Dembele remains on course to make his comeback for Barcelona ahead of December's Clasico clash with Real Madrid.
The France international has been out of action since suffering a hamstring tear against Getafe on September 16.
That outing was just Dembele’s third for Barca since completing a €105 million summer switch from Borussia Dortmund.
He was acquired to help plug the gap created by Neymar’s departure to Paris Saint-Germain, but has been denied the
opportunity to show his true colours. Dembele is, however, closing on a return to full fitness and has stepped up his
training regime once again as he
approaches the end of a lengthy
rehabilitation programme.
Barca have fared admirably in Dembele’s absence, with an unbeaten start to their
La Liga campaign seeing them edge four points clear at the summit.
Valencia are the closest challengers to the Camp Nou giants at present, with
defending champions Real 10 points adrift in third.
They will get the chance to bridge that gap when Barca pay a visit to Santiago Bernabeu on December 23.
Dembele will hope to play some part in
that contest, allowing him to kick-start
his career in Catalunya.
Any minutes he gets before or doing
that contest will set him up nicely for
2018, with Barca’s eagerly-anticipated
clash with Real set to be their last
heading into La Liga’s winter break.