Returning to the starting XI on Thursday evening against Levante, Ousmane Dembele continued to show that he is streets ahead of Philippe Coutinho at Barcelona and that the Brazilian has some way to go if he is to compete for a place in the team regularly.
The Frenchman is as confident as he has ever been at the Camp Nou, since arriving as Neymar's replacement, and his self-belief is showing.
On Thursday, Dembele started in an attack that was without Luis Suarez, and he did it from the right wing, which is, on paper, his favourite position.
In that role he was the most outstanding player again for the Catalans.
It didn't take long for his presence to be felt as he scored twice, both after Lionel Messi assists.
With his brace, the forward became Barcelona's third-top scorer for the season, behind Messi and Suarez and even Neymar didn't pose as much of a threat in front of goal, which are big words considering the Brazilian's apparent desire to return.
Dembele already has 12 this season, which matches his most fruitful campaign in from of goal at Rennes.
Furthermore, the Frenchman is the only Azulgrana player that has scored in every competition this season.
He scored the decisive goal in the Supercopa de Espana, has seven in LaLiga Santander, two in the Copa del Rey and two in the Champions League.
Joshyjay
204
Coutinho was bought as iniesta's replacement.... why dont you try to play him in mid-field for a change.
Divyansh26
137
Well Dembele is a Good player I was sure of this since the starting ......The 2 goals he scored in a span of 1 minute just shows the brilliance he is having with himself ........ He is very good at right wing and instead of deploying Coutinho as right wing Barca should play him as Attacking Midfielder his original position he will do better........ MES QUE UN CLUB......
football19
110
Playing Dembele and Coutinho in the same lineup is not as hard as Playing Messi and Dybala Together. But we need to understand. Coutinho is making it harder by himself. If he plays better in the midfield, he need to show that. Coutinho always looks to score goals. If he tries to build the game more often. Then Valverde will eventually put him the starting eleven. Valverde should not be blamed. Bcz Coutinho did not perform when he was deployed as a Midfielder. So Now Coutinho must convince Valverde to use him as a Midfielder.
Fuseini Suale
96
I do t like to read this article about Coutinho/Dembele issues, it's annoying are they fighting for the same spot? Is the coach who don't know how to manage his players.Coutinho is superb in the mildfield.
lVlO-B
86
Coutinho and Rakitic in the midfield with Business behind them and the front 3 should be Dembele Suarez Messi Dembele offers more as a Left wing his explosive pace is deadly on the counter and he will create more space for Leo and Suarez Coutinho should be played as a midfielder these past 2 games showed that coutinho can be a playmaker he had a lot of Messi like passes which led to 2 goals for Suarez I know Arthur has a lot of potential but next season he will get a lot of playing time as Rakatic will be 32 this should be the UCL line up I dont care what Valverde does in La Liga even tho he should let coutinho and Dembele play together more often to create a bond on the field so they can understand one another.
Ayonava Dey
81
Not quite.. Last night coutinho performance was good too.. Might look like dembele scored a brace but coutinho was also loking like making something happen all the time..
Sadat123
78
Coutinho is not a winger he really is a Classic number 10 or a CAM, but nowadays coaches prefer a workhorse or box-to-box midfielder to attacking midfielders, this is the same case with James Rodriguez, Isco, Mesut ozil and Coutinho but I know Coutinho will never give up and will try to succeed at club of his dreams. but this situation might be a blessing in disguise because there will be healthy competition.
whykallar
76
One thing others including fans, Journalists and analyst forgetting to know is, Dembele and Coutinho don't play in the same positions, these are different wingers players, i hate when people say, Dembele making it difficult for Coutinho to play, these are two different people that doesn't play the same position, and the problem here is our coach Valverde who's having problem to draw our team, if you don't know how to positions these players, you will always think one is overshadowing the others.
wamabiknop
76
It shows that inniesta's replacement has not been found yet coz i didn't see inniesta playing as a forward ever why the coach he uses coutinho in that position i knew coutinho he also play in that position but when squad is full of that people who plays into the forward then put him on the midfield as an attacker