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What if?: The story of Ousame Dembele's Barcelona career so far

AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

Ousmane Dembele's missed chance in the dying seconds of Barcelona's 3-0 win over Liverpool was a real 'what if' moment for the Catalan club.

The French forward had time and space in the Reds' area deep into added time, plus Gerard Pique alongside him, but shot tamely at Alisson Becker with only the Brazilian goalkeeper to beat.

To his left, Lionel Messi sank to the turf and held his head as the final whistle sounded. A fourth goal would surely have finished off the tie and made the subsequent Anfield miracle virtually impossible.

Dembele did not take part in the debacle in Liverpool after he was injured inside five minutes of a LaLiga game away to Celta Vigo he had not even needed to play.

What if he had been fit for the Champions League semi-final second leg? Coach Ernesto Valverde admitted the winger would have played at Anfield and surely he would have been more effective than the passive Philippe Coutinho.

If Dembele's miss in the first leg was a 'what if' moment, this was another. With him in the team, Barca may well have got that all-important away goal and they very likely would have beaten Tottenham in the final.

What if he had been available for the Copa del Rey final against Valencia? His pace and dribbling would have caused many more problems for Marcelino's men and might have swung the match in Barca's favour. Perhaps they would have won the treble.

What if, after an impressive pre-season in which he returned in fantastic shape, he had not suffered a fresh injury in November? What if he had been fit for the Spanish Supercopa in Saudi Arabia?

Barca played pretty well against Atletico Madrid in Jeddah and would have won on another day, but lost 3-2 and that defeat saw Valverde sacked.

What if, after being described as a "new signing" by Valverde's successor Quique Setien, Dembele had not suffered another serious injury in February which ruled him out for six months?

What if he had been available for the run-in after lockdown as Barca lost their lead in LaLiga and conceded the title to Real Madrid?

All of that is gone now, but Dembele is finally back and has looked sharp in training ahead of Barca's Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich tonight, with Setien saying he could be involved as a substitute.

Indicative of his horrific injury problems since signing for Barcelona in the summer of 2017 is the fact that Coutinho, who joined six months later and has spent this entire season at Bayern on loan, has made more first-team appearances for the Catalan club than the Frenchman.

Barcelona have badly missed Dembele's pace and trickery in attack. His ability to beat players, to make things happen, his unpredictability, his explosive dribbling.

All of that could be priceless now, especially in a one-off tie and even in a short burst from the bench.

What if, despite everything, he makes the difference tonight?

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