Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde has insisted that he has no problem with Ousmane Dembele despite the attacker arriving almost 30 minutes late to a pre-match meeting.
Dembele is believed to have arrived at 7.25pm for a meeting scheduled at 7pm ahead of Barcelona's Champions League clash with Inter Milan on Wednesday night.
The Frenchman was not used against the Italians during the week, but Valverde has said that the former Borussia Dortmund attacker is in contention to start El Clasico on Sunday afternoon.
"I worry about what they can do as footballers, what they can do on the pitch. He was late the other day, yeah," Valverde told reporters. "When we were there for our pre-match team meeting he was there as he had to be.
"I don't think you should take things out of context and say that's why Dembele is not playing. He's young, we expect a lot from him. We focus on sporting matters alone."
Dembele has scored five times in 11 appearances for Barcelona this term.
Matt Law
