Can Barcelona solve their 'one-position' problem?

Dembele faces a further three months on the sidelines with a hamstring injury which he suffered on his first league start back in September following his summer move from Borussia Dortmund.

Several players have been tried on the right in the young Frenchman's absence, with Andre Gomes being one of the players to try and fill the hole.

Since joining from Valencia in 2016, Gomes is yet to really impress at the Camp Nou, but Guillem Balague says that the Catalan club still believe he can be successful.

"The coaching staff at Barcelona feel Andre Gomes is the player at Barcelona who can have a bigger impact if he gets to his potential than anybody else in the side," he said.

"Everybody else is more or less at the level you expect, but they think Andre Gomes can go three steps further and help the side in many ways.

"They have high expectations for him and they recognise that when he first arrived he was on the floor, lacking in confidence, and he needs to be looked after in a different way. They expect at some point he will hit form."

Ernesto Valverde is trying to figure out the best way to set up his side in the absence of Dembele, and he opted for Gomes in Saturday's draw with Atletico Madrid.

"Valverde is being faced with a dilemma with one position," said ' Sky Sports' journalist Terry Gibson. "Dembele would have been the answer if he was fit. In his absence, we have seen [Gerard] Deulofeu, Gomes, Sergi Roberto, Aleix Vidal and Denis Suarez there.

"Obviously he hasn't found the right solution. Gomes is young and there is room for improvement. He hasn't reached the heights he did at Valencia. I thought he could be a really good signing."

Valverde's side face a challenging run of fixtures over the next month with league fixtures against Athletic Bilbao, Sevilla and Valencia, as well as competing in the Champions League.

Balague says that results in those games could affect Barcelona's dealings in the January transfer market.

"I do think there are doubts, including in the coaching team, and they want to see how this month goes," he said.

"They have Athletic Bilbao and Sevilla, then we will see if they get the points they need. If they do then they might get rid of three or four players in January and bring in one or two and try to improve that way, but they need to improve a third of the squad."