Barcelona star Ousmane Dembele has suffered a fresh blow in his recovery from injury, and could miss his side's Copa Del Rey El Clasico clash in early April.

What's the latest on Ousmane Dembele?

The winger has been absent since the start of February with a hamstring injury, meaning he has missed the last seven La Liga games as well as both Europa League knockout games.

He was originally set to return in mid-March, but has now suffered a setback which could see him miss the second leg of the Copa Del Rey semi-final.

With Barcelona now out of Europe and on course to win La Liga, the upcoming ties against Real Madrid - with another El Clasico this weekend - are now of heavy importance with a potential league and cup double on the cards, but this news will now come as a blow for Xavi.

A report from Catalunya Radio claimed that Dembele's muscles heal slowly, and this is what has caused his setbacks, while it remains to be seen how long he will have to wait before returning to action.

With an international break coming up, the Frenchman's continued recovery over these next few weeks will be crucial to determine what kind of role he can play for the rest of the season.

How important is Dembele to Barcelona?

The winger has been in fine form this season, with eight goals and seven assists in all competitions as Barcelona stormed to the top of La Liga.

Although Xavi has plenty of wide attacking options at his disposal, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres have not been at their best, with Fati scoring three times and Torres scoring just twice in La Liga this term.

Dembele was once described as "special" by Xavi, and his ability on the ball is crucial to his side's attack. He astonishingly ranks in the top 1% of wingers in the top European competitions for progressive carries and successful take-ons over the past year (as per FBref), whilst also ranking highly for assists and shot-creating actions.

He has the same number of league goal and assist contributions as Raphinha despite playing in fewer games than the Brazilian, and looks certain to come straight back into the starting XI once he returns from injury.

Although he had suffered a lot of injury problems over the years, Dembele went through a resurgence when Xavi arrived at the club. After departing and re-joining the club at the end of last season, he has now become one of the Spaniard's most crucial players.