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Barcelona fans were reminded of club legend Lionel Messi as Ousmane Dembele produced twin moments of magic against Juventus on July 27. The French winger scored two wonderful solo goals in the pre-season friendly at the Cotton Bowl Stadium in Texas.
Dembele, 25, opened the scoring in the match in the 34th minute. He picked up the ball on the right wing and drove forward, turning and twisting into the Juventus box. He then cut onto his weaker right foot and scored through a vicious low shot past Wojciech Szczesny.
The Frenchman scored again six minutes later in a similar fashion. He nutmegged Juan Cuadrado and this time cut onto his left foot and put a brilliant shot past the Polish goalkeeper.
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Both goals were reminiscent of the numerous goals Messi scored in a Blaugrana shirt.
The Catalans continued their good showing, producing numerous opportunities to score, especially in the second half. Raphinha hit the woodwork from a well-struck free kick. Moments later, Ansu Fati hit the woodwork again from a curling effort.
The Bianconeri, though, scored via a Moise Kean brace as the match finished 2-2.
However, Barcelona fans were delighted with Dembele's performance, who has recently signed a two-year contract with the club. They took to Twitter to heap praise on the French winger and here are some reactions:
Barcelona fans will hope the French winger can build on this form going into the new season as well.
Ousmane Dembele looks for a resurgence at Barcelona
Dembele was poised to leave the club earlier this summer with his contract expiring (via AS).
His move to Barcelona from Borussia Dortmund in 2017 for an initial fee of €105 million arguably didn't work out as expected. Recurring injury issues have kept him on the sidelines for long periods as he has played just 150 matches across all competitions for the Catalans. He has registered 32 goals and 34 assists in that time.
However, he has now signed a two-year contract to stay at the club until 2024, even taking a wage cut.
The Frenchman turned his fortunes around under Xavi last season. He was La Liga's highest assist provider with 13 assists in just 21 matches. Eleven of those 13 assists came in the final 14 games of the season.
His good run in the pre-season bodes well for Xavi as Barca prepare to fight for silverware ahead of the new season.
Moreover, he will now have to compete for his position with new signing Raphinha. This will perhaps be another motivation for the Frenchman to prove himself.
Earlier, the Blaugrana registered a 1-0 victory over arch-rivals Real Madrid on July 23 in Las Vegas.
Barcelona will next face the New York Red Bulls in New Jersey on July 31. They will then fly back to Camp Nou to face Pumas UNAM in the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 6.
