Paris St Germain boss Luis Enrique has confirmed his star man Ousmane Dembele is fit for the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Arsenal.
Enrique had been sweating over the availability of Dembele for Wednesday’s fixture at the Parc des Princes.
Dembele scored the only goal of the opening leg at the Emirates a week ago before he was withdrawn in the second half with a hamstring problem.
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He was then absent from PSG’s Ligue 1 defeat at Strasbourg on Saturday. However, the France international trained as usual alongside his team-mates on Tuesday.
And Enrique said: “Ousmane Dembele will be available tomorrow. He has trained with us for two days in a row.”
Arsenal were outplayed in the first leg, with Dembele striking inside four minutes to hand the French side the advantage.
With the Ligue 1 title already secured, Enrique was able to rest a number of his players ahead of Wednesday’s fixture. Only Joao Neves retained his place in the starting line-up in the 2-1 defeat at Strasbourg.
Enrique said PSG have no plans to sit on their slender lead against the Gunners.
He added: “We are here because we deserved it. We won the first match, and tomorrow’s goal is to win the second.
“There will be details we can control, but we will have to stay true to the ideas we’ve had so far. We’re going to go into this match and play to our strengths. And if things don’t go our way, we’ll be competitive to turn that around.”
Dembele has scored 30 goals across 42 fixtures for PSG this season – with eight of those coming in the Champions League – and defender Achraf Hakimi said: “Ousmane is a different player.
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“He makes you want to go to the stadium to watch the game. He can change the course of a match at any moment, and we are delighted that he can be back in the squad because he is a very important player for us.”
Hakimi also warned that the PSG supporters will create a hostile atmosphere for Mikel Arteta’s players.
He added: “We know that tomorrow will be a very special evening for all Parisians. The atmosphere at the Parc des Princes will be incredible, and we know that outside the stadium, the whole city will be behind us.
“Our fans deserve to go to the final, so we’re going to do everything we can to make it happen. They’re going to be loud, and they’re going to help us and put pressure on Arsenal.”
