Dembele Out Of El Classico Says Valverde

After 15 league games played, Barca hold an eight-

Ernesto Valverde 

point lead over their fierce rivals who are in fourth position. A win in the Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday could go some way to ending Zinedine Zidane's hopes of retaining their Spanish Primera League title.

With news surfacing that the France international and club record signing, Dembele, has returned to first-team training, fans have taken to social media to express their excitement of his impending return.

However, Valverde has now tempered these expectations over the 20-year-old, who joined the club from Borussia Dortmund for €105million in the off-season.

"Dembele? He's fine, he's been doing things with the group, although he hasn't done a complete training session yet," he told reporters.

"He'll do more work next week, but the idea remains that he'll play again in January."

Dembele featured just three times for the Blaugrana before suffering his untimely thigh muscle rupture in September.