Barcelona's Dembele out for five weeks with hamstring injury

Barcelona suffered defeat in the first match of its La Liga title defence and will now be without Ousmane Dembele due to injury.

Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele

Ousmane Dembele is facing a spell on the sidelines after suffering another hamstring injury, Barcelona has confirmed.

The La Liga champions expect to be without Dembele for around five weeks.

"A medical examination on Ousmane Dembele has diagnosed a strain of his left hamstring," a club statement read.

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"The Frenchman is set to be out for approximately five weeks as a result."

Dembele, 22, completed 90 minutes as Barca began its title defence with a 1-0 loss at Athletic Bilbao last Friday but has suffered wretched luck with injuries since moving to Camp Nou from Borussia Dortmund in 2017.

The €105million winger sat out most of the first half of his debut campaign in Catalonia due to a serious hamstring injury and this is now the fourth time he has been ruled out by a similar complaint.

Barcelona was without Lionel Messi against Athletic as the superstar forward steps up his recovery form a calf problem, while Dembele's compatriot Antoine Griezmann drew a blank on his Blaugrana debut.

Ernesto Valverde's side entertain Real Betis in the league this weekend.