Why Dembele is key to PSG’s success

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What makes PSG as potent and as dangerous as they have been this year is largely what they do as a team.

But, what they do as a team heavily depends on what Ousmane Dembélé does as a player.

He’s a brilliant player who came over from Barcelona, so his quality was never in doubt, but this year’s Dembélé has taken flight. He’s by far having the best season of his career. He’s the main star, and he became that by adjusting how he plays.

So how does he play? Let’s take a look.

Dembélé has always been one whose decision-making has been somewhat suspect. He used to dribble a lot, which he doesn’t do as much now. He’s a far more decisive player, less fixated on dribbling and, by extension, far more efficient in front of goal.

The number of dribbles he takes this season has dropped by 33%; however, his number of shots has doubled.

That’s the shift in approach we’re talking about. So far, that approach has yielded a total of 18 league goals—his first double-digit tally since his debut year.

Even though his dribbles have dropped, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t do it. He does, and he still ranks among the top 17% of players in that regard across the European leagues. But he’s become a more complete player.

According to data provided by Opta, Dembélé ranks in the top 5% of players for xG, shots, key passes, progressive passes, touches in the opponent’s box, progressive carries, and shot-ending actions.

In previous years, Dembélé played exclusively as a winger, but Luis Enrique operates him more centrally now. He’s shown excellent coordination in the penalty area and sharp awareness of when to receive the ball and how to finish it, especially with the first-time shot.

Manager Enrique hasn’t been shy in praising him, noting how he can basically operate anywhere on the pitch.

“We all know Ousmane as a winger, but now we see that he can play anywhere, which is a positive thing,” he said recently.

“It’s surprising how he constantly moves inside the box. While last season he started most of his actions on the wing, this season he plays more like a number nine. The whole team benefits from this change, and we’re all happy about it.”

Another thing that Enrique was able to make Dembélé do is increase his work rate. He used to be one of the worst players defensively across most categories, but this season he’s improved dramatically, becoming one of the best interceptors of passes across the European leagues.

His breakthrough like this has been a long time coming.

We saw shades of this earlier in the year, but it’s been particularly evident in 2025. He’s scored 18 goals in 13 calendar appearances, including scoring in eight consecutive matches across all competitions. No player in Europe has scored more in 2025 than Dembélé.

Once a player who occasionally looked like an elite player, he looks like one now. Now it’s about leading his team to something meaningful—something like the Champions League.

Хозяева - Гости

Вероятность в %

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Коэф.

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Онл.
коэф.

UCL

ЛиверпульПСЖ 11/03/2025 21:00

393328

12-1

2 - 1

2.99

6°

+125

+125 +300 +180 no no no

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1 - 4

0 - 1(0 - 1)

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