'Ousmane Dembele scored a great goal... but still has Barcelona training tomorrow!'

Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde praised winger Ousmane Dembele for his fine goal in the 1-1 draw at home to Tottenham on Tuesday night, but concluded his press conference with a joke that summed up the winger’s current situation at the Catalan club.

Dembele had been under scrutiny heading into this match after turning up to training two hours late on Sunday, but he gave Barca the lead with a superb strike after just seven minutes against Spurs at Camp Nou.

The match finished level after Luca Moura equalised late on, by which time Dembele had come off, but the winger was his side’s standout player at Camp Nou.

“He scored a great goal,” Valverde said after the game. “He showed cold blood, although he ended up quite tired.”

Asked about how he had said on Monday that the player’s disciplinary problems would be resolved internally, he said: “We are a team and we all move by the same rules. We want to win and internal issues will be resolved that way, inside the dressing room.”

Before he departed from the press conference, the Barca boss was then asked if the Frenchman’s goal and positive performance meant it was now case closed after the incident on Sunday and left the room in laughter with his reply.

“I don’t know,” he said. He then broke into a smile and added: “You can think what you like, but we have training tomorrow!”