Xavi Pleads With Barcelona Fans To "Stop Booing" Ousmane Dembele

Barcelona head coach Xavi Hernandez has urged fans to turn their jeers for Ousmane Dembele into cheers.

The France international did not feature in Sunday's 4-2 win over Atletico Madrid but he was named on the bench.

As Dembele's name was called out over the speaker system pre-match, a loud chorus of boos rang out around the Nou Camp.

Xavi later said that he had intended to bring Dembele on in the second half, but changed his mind due to tactical reasons following a red card shown to right-back Dani Alves.

"I would like them to support Ousmane," Xavi said after the match, as reported by GOAL. "I'd ask them to stop booing him.

"The idea was for him to come on, but I decided on other things because of the red card and the way the game went."

Dembele is not a popular player among many Barca supporters right now as he looks set to leave the club as a free agent in the summer.

He is not particularly popular in the boardroom either.

Club president Joan Laporta had given the 24-year-old two choices ahead of the January window. Choice A was to sign a new contract committing his future to Barca. Choice B was to agree to a mid-season move elsewhere so that Barca would at least save some money by getting an expensive player off their payroll.

However, Dembele decided to stay, until the end of his contract in June at least, leaving Laporta irked.

But in the build-up to Sunday's game, Xavi revealed that he had spoken to Laporta and a decision had been made to reintegrate Dembele into the club's first-team plans for the rest of the season.

Next up for Barcelona is a trip to Espanyol on Sunday.

They then play in the Europa League next week for the first time since it was rebranded from the UEFA Cup.

Europa League football may well be the perfect setting for Dembele's Barca rehabilitation.

Xavi and Ousmane Dembele pictured during Barcelona's game with Benfica in 2021

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