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PSG's Dembele out of Strasbourg trip, eyeing return for Arsenal second leg

Paris Saint-Germain return to Ligue 1 action against Strasbourg on Saturday, but they will be without the injured Ousmane Dembele.

Luis Enrique said Ousmane Dembele will miss Paris Saint-Germain's trip to Strasbourg, but hopes to have him back for their Champions League semi-final second leg. 

Dembele scored the only goal in PSG's 1-0 first-leg win over Arsenal, but was replaced by Bradley Barcola after picking up a hamstring strain in the 70th minute.

The Frenchman has been in fine form for Luis Enrique's team this season, registering 43 goal involvements (33 goals, 10 assists) in all competitions. 

Indeed, only Robert Lewandowski (40), Harry Kane (36) and Kylian Mbappe (34) have scored more than Dembele across Europe's top five leagues in all competitions.

After wrapping up the Ligue 1 title, PSG make the trip to the Stade de la Meinau to face Strasbourg on Saturday in a quest to maintain their unbeaten away run.

PSG confirmed Dembele's injury and that his "condition is progressing well", with further assessments to be conducted in the coming days.

"Tomorrow he won't play, that's for sure," Luis Enrique told reporters, while also declining to confirm if he will rotate his squad with the Ligue 1 title already in the bag.

"We're going to do what we've been doing up to now, with the same idea. Nothing has changed.

"The most important thing is that every minute spent wearing the PSG jersey is useful for matches in other competitions."

PSG lost their chance to go an entire league season unbeaten when they suffered a 3-1 defeat by Nice, though they have not lost back-to-back Ligue 1 games since April 2023. 

The Parisiens, however, could extend their unbeaten run away from home in Ligue 1 to 40 matches (W30 D9 so far).

This would be more than the two longest such runs combined by other French teams (21 for Lyon between March 2005 and April 2006, 18 for St Etienne from August 1980 to July 1981 and Marseille between January 2008 and January 2009).

But Luis Enrique had no interest in that record, with his full focus on their second leg against Arsenal on Wednesday and their Coupe de France final against Reims. 

"It's a match we're preparing for in the Champions League, in the Coupe de France, not for the unbeaten record," he said.

"It would be great to win the match in Strasbourg, but the motivation is to prepare for the Champions League match, not to break an unbeaten record."

PSG have fallen in the Champions League knockout stages in recent years and have the opportunity to return to the final for only the second time as they chase a treble.

"We want to achieve this objective of playing this final, but there is still the semi-final second leg," said Luis Enrique, who previously won the treble at Barcelona.

"There is not much time to rest, you have to manage all of this. We, the coaches, go for the best. I've been a top-level coach for several years, and it's part of the job."

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