Gerard Pique gives Ousmane Dembele advice on how to succeed at Barcelona

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique spoke about Ousmane Dembele after Barcelona’s defeat to Real Betis on Sunday and offered the youngster a bit of advice.

Dembele was left out of the squad entirely for Sunday’s game amid reports he’d missed training due to illness in the week and failed to inform the club in a timely manner.

Pique says the players want to help him and is confident he will improve at the Camp Nou.

“It’s a strategic decision but we’re all here to help him out,” he said.

”He’s young and got a lot of potential and I’m sure that [Valverde] has only left him out to work on other areas of his game.

”We’ve all been young and made errors, so from our experience we’ve got to help him realise that football is a 24 hour a day game - you’ve got to live and breathe it.

”I’ve got no doubt that he’s going to improve and the coach’s decisions will also help him.”

Dembele will now spend a bit of time away from the club with the France squad over the international break.

He’s part of Didier Deschamps’ squad who will face Netherlands in the UEFA Nations League on Friday and then Uruguay in a friendly the following Tuesday.