Paris St. Germain seems to have the quality in order to be able to fulfill the dream of the title in the Champions League after many years. This is mainly due to Ousmane Dembélé and a decision by his trainer.
Being a soccer coach at the highest level is certainly not an easy job. And yet it is probably the job where most people exist who believe that it can do it better despite the lack of training and experience. In Germany, for example, one speaks, for example, of the “80 million national coaches” when it comes to the national team.
PSG coach Luis Enrique shifts Dembélé to the scorer
But then there are always these moments that make it very obvious why the criticized in some cases receives several million euros for his decisions, while the criticists only act in their manager game in theory or on the console. Luis Enrique made such a decision a few months ago. With a change that hardly anyone had on the piece, he changed the career of a player, for whom efficiency was a foreign word before: Ousmane Dembélé.
If you have been dealing with the 27-year-old a little longer, you have your strong dribbles on the right outer lane, the enormous speed and technology in mind. But also that a lot he did was for the gallery. But everything is different this season. Dembélé is likely to be in the French Ligue 1 top scorer, he currently has 21 goals there. In the Champions League, he is also one of the best goal hunters with seven goals.
Dembélé also makes the important goals like in the round of 16 against Liverpool FC when he equalized the 0-1 first leg defeat in the second leg. Dembélé also converted in the penalty shootout and was able to celebrate the quarter -finals with Paris in Anfield. Dembélé scored a total of 32 times more or less important goals in 40 competitive games – in the five previous seasons there were a total of FC Barcelona and Paris 28.
“Using Dembélé as number 9 is the idea of the century”
There is certainly not only one reason for this, but there is a trigger: Enrique made it from the wing racer a center forward. How big this new influence is, now made Jean-Louis Gasset, just dismissed coach at Ligakon competitor Montpellier HSC. “European teams have reason to worry, because Dembélé looks like a fighting machine. It is incredible – Dembélé as number 9 is the idea of the century. It is all thanks to the coach”said the 71-year-old.
Gasset also said: “PSG is currently invincible. They are superior to everyone.” This is certainly true for the domestic league, where Paris made the championship six game days before the end of the season last weekend. But the longing in the French capital was not the eleventh championship title in 13 years, but it is still the winning of the Champions League.
Dembélé has also failed so far, last season against Borussia Dortmund ended in the semi -finals. As at that time, the former BVB star always had exceptional players at his side in both Barcelona and Paris who torn everything – the ball, the gates, the attention, the spotlight. For Dembélé, only the supporting role and hardly any space left to develop.
Is Dembélé the best player in the world?
But then Kylian Mbappé left PSG towards Real Madrid last summer and thus cleared the way for Dembélé. No Mbappé, no Lionel Messi, like almost the entire time in Barcelona, no injuries and a plan of Enrique – these are the ingredients that Dembélé is now actually making one of the best and most complete strikers in Europe.
The renowned French football newspaper “L’Equipe” even asked in February whether Dembélé was the best player in the world. “When I play as a ‘wrong nine’, I have less distance from the goal, I’m clearer and my teammates support me very well. There are goals where I just have to press the accelerator pedal, the others have done almost all of the work”said the PSG exceptional player.
Real Madrid star Mbappé: “Touches me personally”
His former Paris colleague and current player in the French national team, Mbappé, is also happy about this. “To see what he reaches touches me personally because I know how much he was criticized and mocked. I am his biggest fan”said the 26-year-old.
What would also let the last Dembélé critic fall silent would be if he would finally give PSG the title in the premier class after so many unsuccessful attempts. In the quarter -finals, Aston Villa (first leg on Wednesday, April 9, 2025 at 9 p.m.) is the opponent, Mbappé wants to prevent him from his project in the semifinals, there would be a duel against Real Madrid or Arsenal. Dembélé knows the way to his goal and that of his club – and he wants to enable him with his goals.