Valverde not risking Dembele before January
Ousmane Dembele will not be allowed to return to action ahead of schedule, with Ernesto Valverde adamant he will not play in El Clasico.
Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde will resist the urge to rush Ousmane Dembele back from injury ahead of next week's El Clasico clash with Real Madrid, insisting he will not be risked before January.
Dembele arrived in August as a direct replacement for Neymar after the Brazilian's world-record move to Paris Saint-Germain, but injury has curtailed his impact.
The 20-year-old winger ruptured a thigh muscle in his first LaLiga start against Getafe on 17 September (AEST) and has not featured since.
Although the first El Clasico of the Liga season takes place on 24 December (AEDT), Valverde does not feel tempted to risk him.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Monday's (AEDT) visit of Deportivo La Coruna, Valverde said: "He [Dembele] is fine.
"He's started doing more things with the group this week, but he has not completed all the training.
"We're still on the same plan; we think that by January he can play. To do anything else would be risky."
Sergio Busquets goes into the match on four yellow cards, meaning another sanction against Deportivo will rule him out of El Clasico, but Valverde is not going to give that much thought.
"It is true that this is a circumstance to be taken into account," Valverde added.
"But you never know how the games can go. The three points are the same in both cases, plus a card can be given out to a player on the pitch, on the bench and in the tunnel."