Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang scored twice as Barcelona eased to a 3-1 win over 10-man Celta Vigo in a game overshadowed by Ronald Araujo leaving the field in an ambulance.
Araujo clashed heads with Gavi shortly after the hour mark at Camp Nou and, after initially appearing to run off the injury, collapsed to the floor before being attended to by medics.
That incident came shortly after Iago Aspas had struck to give Celta some hope following Memphis Depay's opener and a couple of goals from Aubameyang either side of half-time.
But a red card for former Barca loanee Jeison Murillo ultimately left the visitors, who recovered from three down to draw 3-3 in the reverse fixture, with too much to do in Tuesday's LaLiga contest.
Dembele showed superb trickery to take the ball past two opponents and pull it back for Depay to sweep past Matias Dituro, who got a hand to the shot but could not keep it out.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen, returning from illness that ruled him out last weekend, kept out Thiago Galhardo at full stretch and denied the same player from a header soon after.
Barca doubled their advantage before the interval through Aubameyang, who tucked into the bottom-right corner after Nestor Araujo failed to deal with Depay's cross into the box.
Aubameyang took advantage of some more good play from Dembele three minutes after the interval by clinically sweeping home Barca's third.
A poor pass from Ter Stegen to Araujo allowed Galhardo to pounce and play in Aspas, but Celta's momentum was halted when last man Murillo fouled Depay and was sent off.
Barcelona saw Araujo leave the field with a head injury soon after and had a fourth goal for substitute Riqui Puig ruled out for offside, but they had no trouble seeing out the win, despite 11 minutes being added on.
Kane lauds 'fantastic' Tuchel but unaware of growing England links
Harry Kane remains unaware of ongoing discussions for Thomas Tuchel to take over as England manager but lauded his "fantastic" former head coach.
The England captain enjoyed a record-breaking debut season for Bayern Munich under Tuchel last campaign, before the 51-year-old was dismissed and replaced by Vincent Kompany.
Kane could reunite with Tuchel soon, however, amid widespread reports on Tuesday that the former Chelsea and Bayern boss has agreed to become England's permanent manager.
Former Tottenham talisman Kane refused to delve too deep into the capabilities of Tuchel due to the ongoing discussions, but still spoke highly of his previous experience with him.
"Until it's announced obviously I can't really comment, but we have to wait and see," the striker told Sky Sports in Germany.
"Obviously, I know Thomas well from last year. [He is a] fantastic coach, fantastic person. I am sure the guys at the FA will contact me, when they know more about it."
Kane scored 36 times in just 32 Bundesliga games last term under Tuchel, breaking the record for the most goals in a debut season in the competition.
However, that was not enough to keep the former Paris Saint-Germain boss in his role at Bayern, who parted ways with Tuchel after his side finished third behind Bayer Leverkusen and Stuttgart.
Tuchel still maintained an impressive 60.7% winning record across all competitions for Bayern (winning 37 out of 61 matches), a mark he only bettered with Borussia Dortmund (62.6%) and PSG (74.8%).
It may be Tuchel's cup-competition expertise that has drawn England to his skills, though, leading PSG to their first Champions League final in 2020 and winning the same competition with Chelsea a year later.
Indeed, Tuchel has managed 40 Champions League wins in 67 games, with his 59.7% winning ratio more than all but one England manager at major tournaments (World Cup and Euros) – Alf Ramsey had 66.7%.
Time will tell if Tuchel, should he be appointed, can provide a similar winning formula at the 2026 World Cup, where Kane will be delighted to work with his former boss.
Leverkusen dealt blow as Wirtz suffers ankle injury
Florian Wirtz is set for a spell on the sidelines after sustaining a capsular injury to his right ankle while on international duty with Germany.
The midfielder suffered the injury during Germany's 1-0 victory over the Netherlands in the Nations League on Monday, being replaced at half-time by Bayer Leverkusen team-mate Robert Andrich.
Leverkusen confirmed the 21-year-old underwent an MRI scan on Tuesday and is receiving treatment. However, the club also confirmed it is unclear when Wirtz will return to training.
He is a doubt for their return to Bundesliga action against Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday, with a Champions League meeting with Brest following that next week.
Wirtz, who was named the Bundesliga Player of the Season last campaign, has been an influential figure once again for the champions this term.
He is their joint-top scorer with four goals (along with Victor Boniface) in the Bundesliga and has created the joint-most chances (19, level with Alex Grimaldo). His 18 dribbles completed is also a team-high, boasting a 48.65% success rate (37 attempted).
Mane sends Senegal through but Ghana on the brink in AFCON qualifying
Sadio Mane's last-gasp free-kick sent Senegal to the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations after edging out Malawi 1-0 on Tuesday.
Despite dominating for large parts of the contest, Senegal were unable to break down Malawi's stern defence, with goalkeeper William Thole making a string of impressive saves.
However, after Robert Saiz hauled Mane down just outside the area, the Al-Nassr forward stepped up and curled home the winner in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage time.
The 2021 winners of the competition joined Burkina Faso in qualifying for the tournament that takes place in Morocco next year, with both sides on 10 points in Group L.
But in Group F, Ghana look set to miss the tournament for the first time since 2004 after slumping to a 2-0 defeat to Sudan at the Martyrs of February Stadium.
Despite the likes of Mohammed Kudus, Antoine Semenyo and Inaki Williams in their ranks, two goals in three second-half minutes from Ahmed Al-Tash and Mohamed Abdel Rahman did the damage.
Ghana remain winless in their four qualifying games so far and sit five points adrift of the top two, knowing they must beat both group leaders Angola and then Niger next month to have any chance of reaching the finals.
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