Ousmane Dembele given time off as Paris Saint-Germain prepare for Lille test

Paris Saint-Germain have confirmed that France forward Ousmane Dembele will be rested until the end of the week, ruling him out of Friday’s trip to Lille in the opening fixture of the second round of Ligue 1 matches.

The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner is expected to return to full team training on Monday, following an agreement between the player, manager Luis Enrique and the club’s sporting direction.

Dembele’s absence comes after Paris Saint-Germain were held to a 2-2 draw by Rennes in their opening league match. The reigning champions had fallen two goals behind before recovering to claim a point, but Dembele was taken off at half-time alongside team-mate Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.

The decision to leave him out of the Lille match was presented by the club as a period of rest rather than a disciplinary measure. Paris Saint-Germain announced on Tuesday that he would spend the next few days away from group training before rejoining his team-mates at the start of next week.

“By full agreement with the coach and the sporting management, Ousmane Dembele will benefit from a period of rest over the coming days. He will resume training with the group on Monday,” the club said in an official statement.

Dembele had endured a difficult first half against Rennes before being replaced by new signing Ferran Torres. The forward joined Paris Saint-Germain from Barcelona and made an immediate impact, scoring twice to help the champions avoid defeat.

His omission also follows strong criticism from Luis Enrique after the result against Rennes. The Paris Saint-Germain manager warned his players that previous success could not be allowed to create complacency.

“Paris has won nothing, absolutely nothing. If you think about what you have won, you will win nothing. The most important thing for me is that there is no place for complacency; you must prove every day, in every training session and in every match, that you are ready. Otherwise, it is easy to give in to arrogance because of past successes. We are always looking to win, and that is why we must move out of our comfort zone. Is that clear?” he said.

Paris Saint-Germain will therefore travel to Lille without Dembele as they look for their first league victory of the season. The champions’ draw with Rennes came after they had been two goals behind, but the performance prompted a firm response from their manager and the decision to give Dembele time away from competitive action.

The club’s announcement confirms that he will not feature on Friday, while his planned return to collective training on Monday leaves open the possibility of him being available for the team’s next fixture.

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