Burnley
Blackburn Rovers
Coventry City
Derby County
Leeds United
Luton Town
Middlesbrough
Millwall
Norwich City
Portsmouth
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
QPR
Sunderland will be hoping to sprinkle of a bit of Barcelona magic when it comes to their play-off campaign this season.
Despite securing a top six spot in the Championship, it’s been a torrid end to the season for Sunderland.
Regis Le Bris’ side haven’t won in five games, four of them being consecutive defeats.
That’s in stark contrast to Barcelona, who came from behind on two occasions to draw with Inter Milan in the Champions League on Wednesday night.
And, although there are no current Barcelona players who have an affiliation to the Black Cats, there is one former La Blaugrana forward who shares a unique friendship with Sunderland owner Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, and he was even spotted at the Stadium of Light.
- READ MORE: Real Madrid are ‘interested’ in Sunderland star, and Carlo Ancelotti has already namedropped him
Ousmane Dembele once watched Sunderland while at Barcelona
Ousmane Dembele is in the form of his life at Paris Saint-Germain right now, but just a few years earlier, was struggling with Barcelona.
During a spell out with injury, the Frenchman actually decided to spend some of his recovery time in the North East, watching Sunderland vs Sheffield United in 2023.
Dembele was pictured sitting alongside Louis-Dreyfus, a man who he shares a strong friendship with and the pair are regularly pictured hanging out together.
Unfortunately, he didn’t prove to be a good luck charm that night as the Black Cats were beaten by the Blades.
Why is Ousmane Dembele friends with the Sunderland owner?
It turns out that Dembele has been friends with Louis-Dreyfus for a long time.
Both have been pictured on holiday together with each other in Florida and when Sunderland won the League One play-offs, the World Cup winner congratulated them on promotion.
Louis-Dreyfus and Dembele are the same age too and if Sunderland do make the Premier League, maybe we will see the forward at the Stadium of Light again.