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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Sport
Matt Verri

PSG handed Ousmane Dembele injury boost as Tottenham fired ominous warning for Champions League clash

Intentions clear: Luis Enrique wants PSG to dominate their Champions League game against Tottenham - (AFP via Getty Images)

Ousmane Dembele is expected to return to action when Paris Saint-Germain face Tottenham in the Champions League.

The Ballon d'Or winner has been out for the last three weeks with a calf injury.

Dembele picked up that issue in holders PSG's last Champions League match against Bayern Munich earlier this month, when he was forced off midway through the first half.

That ruled him out of France duty during the international break and he did not feature in PSG's 3-0 win over Le Havre in Ligue 1 on Saturday, either.

However, Dembele is now back in training and Luis Enrique indicated that the 28-year-old will be involved against Spurs on Wednesday night.

"He trained well," the PSG boss said of Dembele at his pre-match press conference on Tuesday. "We'll see tomorrow. If there's no problem, he'll be in the squad."

However, he also insisted that PSG would be cautious in not rushing Dembele back and risking further injury problems.

"Every time there's a return of an injured player, it's difficult to manage that," Enrique said. "We're of course more attentive than usual."

Spurs faced PSG in the UEFA Super Cup in Italy in August and played superbly, leading 2-0 heading into the final five minutes of the match. PSG then scored twice to force a penalty shootout and ultimately came out on top.

Enrique's side had just started their pre-season training after returning late following the Club World Cup and the Spaniard is expecting a very different display against Spurs this time.

“It was a match with very particular conditions,” Enrique said of the Super Cup.

“It’s a good memory because it ended well. But it’s less good if I think about the first 60 minutes. We had a lot of difficulties. Many things have changed, and I think that right now we are better prepared to be a dominant team.”

Spurs are in need of a positive response after a heavy defeat by rivals Arsenal on Sunday added to the pressure growing on Thomas Frank.

They were incredibly negative in that match, failing to register a single shot in the first half, in what was the first time they had played a back five since the Super Cup.

"In the first match in the final of the Super Cup they played with five [at the back]," Enrique said.

"Last weekend against Arsenal they repeated that but it didn't work the way they wanted. I don't know, we are ready to play against Tottenham in the normal with four in the back or with five.

"It's not going to change a lot because we can see their idea and for us we think we need to dominate the game, keep the ball and play with the ball. That's our goal for the match."

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