Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé's frustrating season continued when he came off with an apparent injury during the first half of the Champions League playoff against Monaco on Tuesday.
Désiré Doué came on for Dembélé, scored twice and played a part in the other goal as PSG took a 3-2 lead into the return leg next Wednesday in Paris.
Dembélé was doubtful for the game because of a leg problem and came off in the 26th minute at Stade Louis II. The Ballon d'Or winner has been hampered by injuries this season. Shortly before coming off, television images showed him twice rubbing the back of his left calf and then pulling his sock down.
Coach Luis Enrique said he did not take any risks by starting Dembélé, who was PSG's top scorer last season with 35 goals.
“We know what shape each player is in. No risk, he trained normally," Luis Enrique said. "We’ll have to see if there’s an injury. He took a knock in the first 15 minutes, then he couldn’t run.”
PSG was trailing 2-0 when Dembélé came off but rallied to be level 2-2 by halftime.
Dembélé was injured early in the season when playing for France and then came off in the first half in similar circumstances against Bayern Munich in November.
Dembélé also struggled with injuries at his former club Barcelona.
Doué pulled a goal back for PSG two minutes later with a low shot into the bottom right corner. Doué cupped his hands over his ears when he celebrated as if to say he was blocking out recent criticism of his performances.
“The coach makes his choices. It’s always a collective effort whether we win or lose,” Doué said. “The most important thing is to win in this kind of game.”
Doué was involved in PSG's equalizer close to halftime when his shot was pushed away by goalkeeper Philipp Köhn. The ball came straight to right back Achraf Hakimi inside the penalty area and he beat Köhn with a low shot into the bottom left.
Doué grabbed his second of the night in the 67th when he collected a pass from Warren Zaïre-Emery on the edge of the penalty area and guided a low shot into the right corner.
Köhn had made a good save to stop Vitinha's penalty in the 22nd and Monaco midfielder Aleksandr Golovin was sent off for a clumsy foul on Vitinha early in the first half.
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PSG's Desire Doue, second left, scores his side's third goal during the first-leg of the Champions League playoff soccer match between Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain in Monaco, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Philippe Magoni)
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tony Clark intends to resign as head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, a person familiar with the union’s deliberations said Tuesday.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because his decision, first reported by ESPN, had not been announced.
Clark’s decision took place during an investigation by the U.S. Attorney in Brooklyn, New York, into OneTeam Partners, a licensing company founded by the union, the NFL Players Association and RedBird Capital Partners in 2019.
“A lot of people have known that the investigation has been going on,” said the New York Mets' Marcus Semien, a member of the union's eight-man executive subcommittee. “I think that this happening during the investigation is not like, as a subcommittee, is not like overly surprising, but it still hurts and it's still something I'm processing.”
The union's executive board met Tuesday and did not make any decisions about a successor, a person familiar with the session told the AP, also on condition of anonymity because no announcement had been made.
Deputy executive director Bruce Meyer is set to be the primary negotiator in the upcoming labor talks, as he was in 2021-22. After Clark and Rick Shapiro led the 2016 negotiations, Meyer was hired in August 2018 as senior director of collective bargaining and legal and was promoted to his current role in July 2022.
Semien believes Clark is leaving to deal with the probe.
“I think so," he said, "because up to this point, before any investigations, I’ve had the ultimate confidence in Tony Clark to lead this player group. I've had the ultimate confidence in Bruce Meyer to be the lead negotiator for this player group.”
The decision was made ahead of an expected start of collective bargaining in April for an agreement to replace the five-year labor contract that expires Dec. 1. Management appears on track to propose a salary cap, which possibly could lead to a work stoppage that causes regular-season games to be canceled for the first time since 1995.
Adam L. Braverman, a former U.S. associate deputy attorney general and U.S. attorney in Los Angeles, was hired by the union's executive subcommittee as outside counsel, two people familiar with the group's action told the AP. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the union hadn't announced that.
The union on Monday canceled Tuesday’s scheduled start of the staff’s annual tour of the 30 spring training camps, which was to have begun with the Cleveland Guardians in the morning and the Chicago White Sox in the afternoon.
Clark, 53, is a former All-Star first baseman who became the first player to head the union.
He played from 1995-2009, becoming a union leader shortly after going to his first executive board meeting in 1999.
Clark was hired as the union's director of player relations in 2010 and was promoted to deputy executive director in July 2013, when union head Michael Weiner's health declined because of a brain tumor. Weiner died that November and Clark was elevated to executive director, following Marvin Miller, Kenneth Moffett, Donald Fehr and Wiener as union head.
Clark led players through negotiations that led to an agreement in December 2016, about 3 1/2 hours before the prior deal was set to expire, and another in March 2022 after a 99-day lockout.
Meyer, 64, spent 30 years at Weil, Gotshal & Manges before joining the NHL Players Association in 2016 as senior director of collective bargaining, policy and legal.
Three members of the subcommittee, Jack Flaherty, Lucas Giolito and Ian Happ, were among the players who in March 2024 advocated for the ouster of Meyer in an effort led by former union lawyer Harry Marino. Clark backed Meyer, the effort failed and those three players were dropped off the subcommittee that December.
The subcommittee voted 8-0 against approving the 2022 labor contract and Meyer had advocated pushing management for a deal more favorable to the union. Team player representatives, the overall group supervising negotiations, voted 26-4 in favor, leaving the overall ballot at 26-12 for ratification.
In addition to Semien, the current subcommittee includes Chris Bassitt, Jake Cronenworth, Pete Fairbanks, Cedric Mullins, Paul Skenes, Tarik Skubal and Brent Suter.
OneTeam says since its formation that it added, among others, the players' associations of the WNBA, MLS, NWSL and the U.S. women's soccer national team. RedBird sold its stake in 2019 to HPS Investment Partners, Atlantic Park Strategic Capital Fund and Morgan Stanley Tactical Value.
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FILE - Major League Baseball Players Association Executive Director Tony Clark answers a question during a news conference in New York on March 11, 2022. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
