Dembélé was brought on as a substitute in Barcelona’s game against Napoli
Ousmane Dembélé was booed by sections of the Barcelona crowd during their game against Napoli in the Europa League on Thursday night.
Barça were playing in Europe’s second-tier competition for the first time in their history after failing to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages for the first time since 2000.
Xavi’s side had gone 1-0 down in the first half after Piotr Zieliński thundered home a palmed effort from Marc-André ter Stegen to give Napoli the lead at the Camp Nou.
Barcelona go behind in their first-ever Europa League game as Piotr Zieliński fires Napoli into the lead 💥 pic.twitter.com/RdCbBezsjS
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) February 17, 2022
The Catalan giants did find an equaliser in the second after half after they were awarded a penalty following a VAR check which adjudged Juan Jesus to have handball Adama Traoré’s attempted cross.
Ferran Torres dispatched the penalty to level the score but as Dembélé came onto the pitch, he was greeted by boos and jeers from large sections of the support – whilst others tried to show their support by cheering to try and drown out the boos.
The Frenchman is set to leave Barça at the end of the season after failing to agree to a new contract multiple times over the course of the season and tried to leave the club in the January window.
Dembélé had been linked with a return to Borussia Dortmund, the club he joined Barcelona from, as well as a move to the Premier League to sign for Chelsea, but neither failed to materialise, leaving the Frenchman set to leave for nothing.
Barça boss Xavi has persisted with continuing to select Dembélé, but fans of the Catalan club have made their feelings well known as to what they think of the winger.
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