Dembélé sidelined for five days by PSG ahead of Lille clash

Paris Saint-Germain officially confirmed Wednesday evening the temporary sidelining of Ousmane Dembélé, who will not participate in training or Friday’s match against LOSC at Pierre-Mauroy, in the opening fixture of Ligue 1’s third matchday. The club specified that the 2026 Ballon d’Or winner will resume collective training next Monday.

“In agreement with the head coach and sporting director, Ousmane Dembélé will benefit from a rest period over the coming days. He will resume training Monday with the full squad,” PSG wrote on X.

This decision comes after a sluggish start to the season for the French international. Substituted at half-time in Sunday’s draw at Rennes (2-2), like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Dembélé had also missed several important chances in the Trophée des Champions lost to RC Lens at Bollaert (1-0).

Luis Enrique reacted to these two half-time substitutions with characteristic frankness: “Football is like that. Paris Saint-Germain has won nothing, nothing. If you think about what you’ve won, you won’t win anything. The most important thing for me is that there is no credit: you must show every day, at every training session, at every match that you are ready.”

The situation is all the more concerning given that Dembélé’s summer preparation was chaotic. After three weeks of consecutive vacation following the 2026 World Cup — where France finished fourth, beaten 6-4 by England in the third-place match — the former Barcelona player only resumed training a few days before the UEFA Super Cup against Aston Villa (2-1) on August 12, coming on to provide the assist for Désiré Doué’s goal. He had not started against Lens before being fielded from the start against Rennes.

Against LOSC on Friday, Ferran Torres, who scored twice on his PSG debut at Roazhon Park, is expected to occupy a starting spot.