In any sport, the preseason is not necessarily a reliable sample of the performance that players will have in official duels, however, after a past to forget for the Frenchman Ousmane Dembélé with FC Barcelona, a spectacular first half in the duel against Juventus at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, does nothing but excite the culé fans.

From the beginning of the match, the attacker was a nightmare for the defense of the team with the most titles in the history of Serie A, with a speed worthy of his best times at Borussia Dortmund.

Will this be Dembélé's best season at Barcelona?

In truth, since Dembélé arrived in 2017 at FC Barcelona, the speedy winger has been recognized more for injuries or indiscipline than for his productivity on the pitch, but the start of the 2022-2023 season could be the Frenchman's breakout to stardom.

In the 34th minute, Dembélé opened the scoring by taking the ball down the right flank as he dribbled like cones past both Colombian midfielder Juan Guillermo Cuadrado and Brazilian defender Alex Sandro before unleashing a low shot that beat Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczsny.

A tough fight for a place in Xavi's Starting XI

Six minutes later, again Dembélé gave his team the lead, with a play very similar to the first goal, this time he started by passing the ball between Cuadrado's legs, followed by a dribble on Manuel Locatelli and a great finish to send the match to halftime with a score of 2-1 in favor of the Catalan team.

Certainly, with the good performances up front that Ansu Fati, Rapinha and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang have had in this preseason, the dispute for a place in Xavi's Starting XI will be complicated for Dembélé, however, the sensations, at least now, are extremely positive.