Celtic vs Lyon: A tale of two Dembeles

Will we see a pair of fired up Dembeles on the pitch together when Lyon and Celtic play on Saturday evening? Both could be ready to shine.

For young Karamoko Dembele there does seem to be signs of a possible breakthrough to the first team squad at least. He’s been involved in the first team squad training sessions at Lennoxtown so far and of course travelled with them to face Nice and Lyon in France this week and he’s likely to be there for the PSG match too.

Physically he looks slightly bigger and stronger, his development is likely to have had some focus on doing so safely and correctly as he grows. But as a small player he’ll need to have some physical strength to avoid being pushed off the ball. It was great to see him get on during the 2nd half on Thursday against Nice. He and the others introduced did enough to help secure the draw. Dembele had some nice moves, linked up well with other players and showed good promise and potential.

Will he get a chance against Lyon? Let’s hope so, the likelihood is increased for friendlies, however Neil Lennon and the players will be conscious that Lyon lost on Thursday evening and are perhaps more likely to have their sharp shooters starting the match later.  So Karamoko Dembele’s opportunity may depend on how the game is going,  It’d be tremendous to see him play and continue to offer himself up for more first team action as we enter the new season.

And then talking of Lyon sharp shooters and Dembele, there’s Moussa to take into account. Will Celtic’s ex star striker start the match for Lyon later? He’ll be hoping so as he maintains a strong ongoing connection with the Hoops fans.

We also saw Lyon fail to score on Thursday night. Moussa Dembele, like Karamoko, only entered the pitch in the second half. He didn’t score but also didn’t really get many opportunities himself in a misfiring Lyon team. There was a lot on Twitter about how he was destroyed by that losing result, but none of that would halt those Dembele’s desire to do well in his next game.

It’s always good to see him play and to see ex-Celtic players progress. Of course the club retain hopes of a huge sell on fee if and when Moussa Dembele moves on from Lyon to a new club.

Another reason for wanting him to do well generally,  but perhaps we are all hoping he has a quiet match on Saturday against the hoops. Wouldn’t we all like to see a bit at least of both Dembele’s skill during the game against Lyon. Let’s hope so.