Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde is in a very embarrassing situation with his fans after the shock and unexpected loss at the beginning of the Primera Liga last week, when he fell at the stadium of San Mames to Athletic Bilbao 1-0, and has to respond strongly in the second round today Real Betis are in their first game of the season at home at Camp Nou. Frenchman Osman Dembele has become a real dilemma for Valverde, after betting on him in exchange for the transfer of Brazilian Coutinho, who moved a week ago to Bayern Munich on loan for one season for 8.5 million euros.

While Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez, who will not play until the end of September, has a number of important absences, and Lionel Messi has recently returned to team training and may not play against Real Betis. His lack of compliance with the club's internal laws, which left him for five weeks. Even star Rafinha suffered a stomach problem and missed training on Monday.

In practice, Valverde has only one star in the attack, French newcomer Antoine Griezmann, who joined him this summer from Atletico Madrid in exchange for his penalty clause of 120 million euros. Valverde was behind the club in the summer of 2017 to sign Osman Dembele from Dortmund for 140 million euros, but the player described as 'glass' missed most of the past two seasons, and did not provide the required addition, in addition to the major problem of misconduct and lack of discipline.

Dembele missed a total of 54 games due to seven major injuries, most recently in the Bilbao meeting, which was exacerbated by his lack of discipline.He was required to return the following day to follow up on what happened during the Bilbao meeting, but went on a trip to Senegal. He tore his left knee ligaments, angering club officials, who, according to Spanish newspaper AS, decided to punish him financially. Dembele was largely absent from training without reason, as well as his lack of commitment to a healthy diet and many things that actually threaten Valverde's future with Barcelona, ​​especially after he abandoned Coutinho and bet on him in the coming period.

The club had renewed confidence in Valverde at the end of last season, despite the great disappointment with the humiliating loss of Liverpool 4-0, after he won the first leg 3 - zero, bid farewell to the Champions of the semi - finals, and the loss of the Spanish Cup final against Valencia. Valverde is now demanding a strong European response and stopping the curse of the quarter-finals in a humiliating scenario, especially in the last two seasons of Rome and Liverpool.

But the general situation does not bode well, according to the Barcelona fans, as the continuation of the bet on one player each season, Lionel Messi does not help the team a lot, especially in the final meters of the season, when the fatigue has affected the Argentine, who is in need of great help In the offensive midfield, there may be hope for Griezmann, who provided little in his first meeting, but remains optimistic in the ranks of Barcelona that his great potential will emerge with the successive games, especially after the return of Lionel Messi.

Barcelona's anger over Dembele, due to his frequent travel and disorderly behavior.

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Dembele missed Barca in the last two seasons, due to seven major injuries, most recently in the Bilbao encounter where he will be out for five weeks.

Messi on the bench

Barcelona star Lionel Messi will not play for Real Betis in the second round of the Primera Liga, and the coach Ernesto Valverde is thinking of pushing him into the second half, especially as the player is returning from a calf injury. . Messi has been involved in group training this week and is fit to play, but Valverde does not want to risk his most important player for 90 minutes, despite the team's need for his services.

The game revealed the need for a player like Messi, who can find a solution and revive the Barcelona attack, although that game saw the participation of Griezmann, Suarez, Dembele and Ravenia, but the absence of Messi left a large gap in the attacking midfield, and his participation for a quarter of an hour is very much needed in Barcelona today.