Rivaldo: Dembelé should be penalized by FC Barcelona

Former Brazilian footballer Rivaldo, who played for FC Barcelona, ​​opined that French footballer Ousmane Dembelé should be penalized by the Catalan club for his "acts of indiscipline."

In statements made to Betfair, Rivaldo said, "It is important for the club to have internal mechanisms to sanction its players in this kind of silly situations."

Dembelé will miss the next two league matches, including the classic against Real Madrid, for shouting "very bad, very bad" at referee Mateu Lahoz.

The Brazilian commented that the player should not let himself be carried away by emotions and that despite the tension of the match, what happened is "unacceptable."

"A footballer must be intelligent, think that there are more matches and that you cannot leave your teammates and coach in such a difficult situation," declared the Brazilian.

"Regarding former Barcelona goalkeeper Víctor Valdés, recently removed as coach of Juvenil A, he commented that he was unaware of the reasons, although he emphasized the importance of keeping players "who grew up at the club" within its structure because they help "transmit the values and culture of Barcelona."

Regarding the Croatian Ivan Rakitic, who expressed his desire for more minutes a couple of days ago, Rivaldo explained that "when the team functions and starts performing well, it is difficult for the coach to change players."

However, the Brazilian has no doubt that Rakitic will regain prominence. "He will soon return and his experience will be important on the field," commented the 1999 Ballon d'Or winner.

About the alleged desire of Spanish national team captain Sergio Ramos to play in the next summer's European Championship and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he said, "He can do it." Rivaldo won the Olympic bronze medal in Atlanta 1996. EFE