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Dembélé ruled out for Villarreal, PSG without four players in Champions League

Ousmane Dembélé, injured in the clash against Barcelona, is not part of the Paris squad for Tuesday's trip to Villarreal. Marquinhos, Nuno Mendes and Kvaratskhelia are also absent.

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Dembélé ruled out for Villarreal, PSG without four players in Champions League
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PSG travel to Villarreal on Tuesday evening for their third Champions League match without Ousmane Dembélé, officially ruled out of the squad announced Monday. The French international, who came off injured during the victory against FC Barcelona (4-2) nearly two weeks ago, is suffering from a hamstring tear and should resume training in the coming days.

Luis Enrique will therefore have to field an unprecedented attacking trio at the Estadio de la Ceramica. Désiré Doué, Ferran Torres, Maghnes Akliouche and Senny Mayulu are competing for attacking spots, with Achraf Hakimi in a free role — a position in which the Moroccan right-back scored a hat-trick and provided two assists on Friday during the emphatic victory at Le Havre (1-5).

Absences are mounting in defence and midfield. Marquinhos and Nuno Mendes, both suffering from thigh injuries, are also unavailable. More concerning still, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, victim of a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, is likely unavailable for the rest of the season.

Despite this context, Paris approach this trip to Spain with confidence following their convincing victories against Manchester City (2-4) and Barcelona (4-2) in previous matchdays.

Dembélé’s availability for the France squad remains uncertain. Zinédine Zidane is to announce his squad on Friday for the next two Nations League matches against Italy (12 November) and Turkey (15 November). Also worth noting is the return to the Paris squad of goalkeeper Alessandro Longoni, absent for several weeks through injury.

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