MADRID —
Ousmane Dembele turned the jeers to
cheers at Camp Nou on Sunday by scoring a stunning goal and setting up two more
in a 4-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao.
اضافة اعلان
Dembele’s explosive finish in the second half was
his first goal since the January transfer window, when
Barca told the Frenchman
he should leave if he refused to sign a new contract.
But
Xavi Hernandez has insisted on reintegrating
Dembele in the last few weeks, with Barca needing the 24-year-old in their
fight to finish in La Liga’s top four.
“Today he is the best Dembele we have seen and that
is what we want,” said Xavi.
This victory puts Barcelona back into fourth place,
above Atletico Madrid and now only one point behind Real Betis, who have been
dragged into the scrap after they lost 2-1 to Sevilla earlier on Sunday.
Second-placed Sevilla’s win reduces the gap to
Real Madrid back to six points.
After bitter contract talks ended in stalemate,
Dembele played at
Camp Nou against Napoli in the Europa League earlier this
month, when Xavi brought him on as a substitute to screeching whistles from the
angry home supporters.
Yet many gave
their backing to the forward in that game too, demonstrating the emotional bind
Barcelona fans have found themselves in, caught between supporting a player
Xavi wants to use and venting their frustration at his intention to leave for
free.
This time, they
whistled again when Dembele was introduced in the 67th minute but then had
little choice but to applaud.
Dembele used his pace and power to score a brilliant
second goal after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang had earlier given Barca the lead.
He then teed up Luuk de Jong and Memphis Depay with two superb crosses in
injury-time.
Xavi appears to have managed the situation as
smoothly as possible, with Dembele noticeably going over to celebrate with
Barcelona’s coach, who gave him a hug and an approving pat on the head.
“It is not a question for me, it’s a question for
the club, for Ousmane,” Xavi said.
“His contract ends (in the summer). Nothing can be
ruled out in football. He couldn’t play and now he’s playing. He can be the
best in his position.”
Barca have scored four goals in three consecutive
games for the first time since May 2017, when 11 of those were claimed by
Lionel Messi, Neymar and
Luis Suarez.
Aubameyang’s opener was a difficult finish made to
look easy,
Gerard Pique’s header coming back off the crossbar and the ball
forcing Aubameyang to adjust his feet before throwing his body into the air and
volleying in.
Dembele’s was no less emphatic as he collected the
ball on the left and squared up to Athletic’s Inigo Martinez before darting
left toward the line and unleashing a shot that flew past the near post and in.
There was time for two more in injury-time and
Dembele turned provider for both, lifting one cross for
De Jong to head in
before curling another low one into the six-yard box, where Depay finished on
the slide.
Sevilla stay in title hunt
Sevilla had
earlier prevailed against rivals Real Betis as two mistakes from Betis
goalkeeper Claudio Bravo proved decisive in a feisty derby at the
Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan.
Bravo was recalled after a month out injured but the
38-year-old had a first half to forget, giving away a penalty, which was
converted by Ivan Rakitic, before letting Munir El Haddadi’s shot squirm
through his fingers.
Betis improved in the second period and might have
engineered a comeback had Sergio Canales’ stunning free-kick, which curled
beautifully into the corner, hit the net sooner than the 94th minute.
“We were a sham in the first half and then in the second it
was the Betis we want to see,” said Betis coach Manuel Pellegrini.
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