Barça: Dembele to miss around 10 weeks with hamstring injury

Barcelona, Nov 29 (efe-epa): French winger Ousmane Dembele will be out for roughly two and a half months after being diagnosed with a right hamstring injury, FC Barcelona said Friday on their website.

"A medical examination has confirmed that first team player Ousmane Dembele has suffered a muscle injury to the biceps femoris of his right hamstring. His estimated layoff time is approximately 10 weeks," the LaLiga giants said in a brief injury bulletin.

The 22-year-old French international sustained the injury during the first half of Barcelona's 3-1 victory Wednesday night over Bundesliga side Borussia Dortmund in Champions League group-stage action.

Dembele went down in the penalty box and had to be replaced at the 26-minute mark by countryman Antoine Griezmann.

The muscle injury is the third that he has suffered thus far in the 2019-2020 season and the seventh he has sustained since moving to Barcelona from Dortmund in the summer of 2017.

Dembele also has missed time on a pair of occasions with a sprained ankle.

In four Spanish-league matches and four Champions League games thus far this season, Dembele has managed just one goal (in a LaLiga contest against Sevilla at Camp Nou) and no assists.

Last season, he scored 11 goals and tallied six assists in LaLiga and Champions League action.

Barcelona is currently in first place in LaLiga, leading arch-rival Real Madrid based on goal differential. Both teams have a game in hand on the other 18 clubs heading into Matchday 15.

In the Champions League, Barcelona leads Group F with 11 points, four ahead of second-place Inter Milan and third-place Dortmund.

They will play their final group-stage match on Dec. 10 against Inter Milan at San Siro stadium.