Dembélé Completed His Catharsis Against Arsenal Matching Mbappé’s Best Champions League Campaign with PSG

Dembélé scored the winning goal at the Emirates and now has 11 goal contributions for PSG in this Champions League

You never really need extra motivation to face Champions League semifinals. However, Ousmane Dembélé had unfinished business at the Emirates Stadium after being “punished” by Luis Enrique, who left him out of the Arsenal vs PSG group-stage match. But last night, a few months after that episode, Dembélé completed his catharsis by matching Mbappé’s best Champions League season with PSG.

Dembélé equals Mbappé’s 11 goal contributions from last season

You don’t have to look too far back to find Mbappé’s best Champions League season with PSG. In fact, it was just last season when he led the team to the semifinals against Borussia Dortmund, contributing to 11 goals. However, when it mattered most, he couldn’t help PSG reach the Champions League final at Wembley.

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Ousmane Dembélé, however, needed just four minutes to score the winning goal against Arsenal in the first leg of the Champions League semifinal at the Emirates Stadium. With that goal, he matched the 11 goal contributions Kylian Mbappé registered last season with PSG. Moreover, his impact in the knockout stages has been outstanding. He scored against Liverpool at Anfield; assisted in both games against Aston Villa; and has now scored again against Arsenal.

Dembélé is doubtful for the next match

The worst news, without a doubt, came 20 minutes before the end of the match when Ousmane Dembélé lay down on the ground and had to be subbed off. It’s definitely an injury at the worst possible moment for PSG, and especially for Ousmane Dembélé, who had finally found the physical consistency that eluded him during the early years of his career. In fact, his last injury dates back to December 2023.

While we await the results of the medical tests expected this morning, it didn’t appear to be a very serious injury. In a show of maturity, Dembélé chose not to take any risks... though his presence for the second leg at the Parc des Princes is now in doubt. We’ll see if he can recover in time to break Mbappé’s record and help PSG secure a spot in another Champions League final—five years later.