After his number against FC Barcelona, the Paris Saint-Germain player finds another of his former clubs, Borussia, in the semi-finals first leg of the Champions League on Wednesday.
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An air of déjà vu. Paris Saint-Germain meets Borussia Dortmund for the third time this season in the Champions League, Wednesday May 1, this time in the semi-finals first leg. For Ousmane Dembélé, the trip to the Ruhr is all the more familiar as he wore the opponent’s colors during the 2016-2017 season. In yellow and black, he revealed himself at the highest European level at the age of 19, scoring 10 goals and providing 22 assists on his way to his first quarter in C1 (lost to Kylian Mbappé’s AS Monaco).
The 2018 world champion is preparing to take to the pitch at Signal Iduna Park, facing its famous yellow wall, in the colors of another club for the first time since his departure. When PSG snatched a crucial draw (1-1) at the end of the group stage in 2020, Dembélé was suspended. In 2019, another missed meeting occurred as he was injured for Dortmund-Barça, in the group. So, there was the Germany-France friendly (2-1 defeat) last September, in which the latter took part for 25 minutes, but the configuration was not the same.
Rennes, Barcelona and now Dortmund
VSThis time, he is expected as a starter and at 100% of his means. This month of April took the form of a tour of his old clubs. After participating in the elimination of Rennes, his first club, in the semi-finals of the Coupe de France (1-0), he responded to the whistles and insults of Barça supporters with a goal and a penalty obtained, and above all a devilish smile.
“In his imbalance, in his dribbling, in his ability to create space, he is an exceptional player. If he had a superior finishing quality, he would perhaps be the Golden Ball today.”
Julien Stéphan, Rennes coachafter the Coupe de France semi-final against PSG
Not inhibited, therefore, by the pressure of his return to Barcelona, the person concerned did not confide his feelings before the match against Dortmund. It was Gonçalo Ramos who presented himself at a press conference. For the Portuguese, very smiling and at ease in front of journalists, there is no reason why his teammate should not repeat another high-flying performance. “He’s a calm, calm and confident person. I hope he plays like he did against Barcelona”he replied.
On the Dortmund side, Dembélé will still have to face the resentment of his former supporters. Although he brought in 100 million euros upon his departure according to the specialized site Transfermarkt (arrived for €35 million and sold for €135 million), no one there has forgotten his training strike to force his departure to Catalonia in summer 2017. “Ousmane had a magnificent season with top performances and he won the hearts of our fans before ruining everything unnecessarily”returned the general director of Borussia, Hans-Joachim Watzke, in the columns of The Team.
Behind, the person concerned spent six years at Barcelona, alternating between good and nothing due to incessant injuries spread over six years. The return to France, to this PSG engaged in a new era, brought calm to Ousmane Dembélé’s career. Appreciated by the Parc des Princes, he has not officially missed a match due to injury this season. The 26-year-old winger only missed the call when he was spared by Luis Enrique, who made him the main factor in the imbalance of his squad. Essential in the animation of the capital club, all he lacked was efficiency in front of goal.
Good things come to those who wait for
The double confrontation against FC Barcelona seemed to unlock the French international, who chained three matches with at least one goal (4 in total) after having found the net only once during his first 34 appearances in the Parisian jersey (1 goal in 65 shots). Unlike his partner in attack Randal Kolo Muani, his face constantly closed when he is in check, Dembélé never gave the impression of worrying about it.
After his double against Lorient (4-1 victory), he refuted the idea of a trigger or a miracle recipe: “It’s not thanks to any specific work. I think I’m projecting myself more and more in front of the goal and the balls are arriving. Quite simply”. Such serenity is perhaps linked to the total trust granted by his coach, Luis Enrique, who has never missed an opportunity to highlight his player even though he constantly repeats that he hates to deliver. individual analyses. This was particularly the case after qualifying in Barcelona, when answering a question relating to Kylian Mbappé’s performance.
Ousmane Dembélé integrated perfectly from his first season with PSG. He quickly made us forget the heavy shadows of Lionel Messi and Neymar, to the point that his teammate Milan Skriniar considers him one of the “two best players in the world at the moment” alongside Kylian Mbappé. On Wednesday, these remarks will still not achieve consensus, but “Dembouz” has the opportunity to continue to impress. Above all, it will be eagerly awaited. We almost forget that this will be his first real Champions League semi-final (he only played one minute of Barça-Liverpool in 2019, in the first leg, and was injured for the defeat 4 -0 at Anfield on the return leg).