Paris Saint-Germain are furious with France head coach Didier Deschamps for playing Ousmane Dembélé in Friday's match against Ukraine, where the forward picked up an injury that will sideline him for six weeks, a source has told ESPN.
Dembélé, 28, was brought on at halftime before coming off in the 81st minute holding his right hamstring. PSG confirmed on Saturday that the favourite for the Ballon d'Or trophy had suffered a "serious" hamstring injury.
"After leaving the pitch injured during the match between Ukraine - France on Friday, Ousmane Dembélé has suffered a serious injury to his right hamstring. He is expected to be unavailable for around six weeks," the club said in a statement.
He will miss the first match of the Champions League campaign against Atalanta, the second one away at Barcelona and potentially the trip to Bayer Leverkusen. He will also be absent for the Classique against Marseille and many other Ligue 1 games.
In Paris, the decision to play Dembélé was deemed incomprehensible and the wrong call to make. A source has told ESPN that playing Dembélé, who suffered an injury scare on his left hamstring the previous weekend in against Toulouse, was "ridiculous."
Deschamps tried to defend his decision after the game.
"I was sure that he was capable of playing a high level match, otherwise I would not have played him," he said. "This time, it is the other thigh [than against Toulouse]. He was fit. It is unfortunate for him but could have happened to another player.
"I took the decision to play him because of what he was thinking and because medically there was no problem."
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Désiré Doué, Dembélé's teammate in Paris, also suffered an injury and came off at halftime against Ukraine. He suffered a strain in his right calf and will be out for around four weeks, PSG said.
It was a bad day in terms of injuries for PSG as their manager Luis Enrique ended up in hospital after falling heavily during a bike ride. The 55-year-old Spaniard broke his collar bone and had surgery on Friday night.