Bothering his calf at Rennes on Feb. 13 and then quickly substituted against Monaco a few days later, Ousmane Dembele has not played since. Worrying before the PSG vs. Chelsea clash on March 11? Not necessarily, according to recent reports about his health.

Started against AS Monaco on Feb. 17, in the first leg of the Champions League playoff round, Ousmane Dembele had to quickly give way to Desire Doue after complaining about his left calf. A left calf that had already bothered him earlier in the season against Bayern Munich, as well as on Feb. 13 at Rennes, four days before his premature exit against AS Monaco.

But if last November, the Ballon d'Or winner had suffered a "lesion" in his left calf, the first reports were more reassuring in recent days after his exit against ASM. In its medical update on Feb. 20, before the match against Metz in Ligue 1, PSG mentioned only "discomfort."

Then, before the return leg against Monaco and the trip to Le Havre this Saturday, PSG announced that its No. 10 had resumed individual training. Enough to hope for a quick return to the field? Last Friday, L'Equipe mentioned a possible presence of Dembele this Friday at the Parc des Princes against... Monaco, on the opening of the 25th round of Ligue 1.

A match that could potentially allow "Dembouz" to regain some rhythm before the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against Chelsea on Wednesday, March 11. It went a little unnoticed, but Fabrice Hawkins mentioned last week, before the return leg of the playoff round between PSG and Monaco (2-2), that Dembele has a nerve problem, not another muscle injury.

"Before the first leg, he had pain in his calf. Actually, he has pain in a nerve," confided the RMC Sport journalist. "There is no lesion or fissure, there is no problem at that level that would require surgery. But it's true that he needs rest, and the staff chose not to have him play this weekend in the league (against Metz) and, above all, not to take any risks tonight (against Monaco in the return leg). The idea is really to keep him fresh and hope that it passes in the round of 16, so he can play in much more important deadlines. Basically, we are not very worried (at PSG), but we don't want to take any risk."

To hope to play this Friday against Monaco, Dembele will have to return to collective training this week. PSG trained behind closed doors on Sunday, the day after its 1-0 victory at Le Havre, and will return to the Campus on Wednesday at 5 p.m. (French time) after two days of rest.

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