Paris Saint-Germain, and more specifically Ousmane Dembele, have been in scintillating form since mid-December with the France international adding his 17th and 18th goals from the past 11 games on Tuesday evening away at Stade Brestois 29 in the UEFA Champions League. Dembele’s 2025 alone reads 15 goals after his masterclass at EA Guingamp’s Stade du Roudourou enabled Les Parisiens to take a major option on a UCL round of 16 berth with a comfortable first leg knockout round playoff advantage built up.
The 27-year-old made key contributions in the fightback win at home to Manchester City and the away triumph at VfB Stuttgart which were both key to PSG even reaching this point in the first place as they made a scorching late dash to swipe a seeded position in the league phase. That is now a minimum of two goals from each of his last four outings across all competitions and now five goals from his last two road games against Brest having scored three in Ligue 1 just days after his heroics in Germany.
“I am now positioned a bit more in a No. 9 role — centrally,” said Dembele postgame. “I have less running to do so I am now more lucid in front of goal. Plus, I enjoy some very, very good service. Some goals I simply push into the net after Bradley (Barcola) or Desire (Doue) have done most of the work and I am simply positioned well to finish.”
Looking back at how Dembele’s season has played out so far, it is tempting to think that being left out by Luis Enrique for the 2-0 loss away at Arsenal was the turning point for the French titleholders, but it did not spark an immediate reaction. Instead, the real wakeup call seemed to come with his red card for two bookable offences away at Bayern Munich in late November when things looked mightily bleak for Paris in Europe just a few weeks before the Frenchman’s hot run of form started with a goal against Olympique Lyonnais.
Dembele’s only goalless outing since then across any competition was the 1-1 draw away at RC Lens in the Coupe de France but PSG still won that on penalties with the former Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Stade Rennais man scoring from the spot when his turn came. Luis Enrique finally has the false nine central attacking figure that he has been craving since his arrival at Parc des Princes and it is clear that it was in the works even last season when PSG’s creative force started moving into a more central position close to the No. 10 role.
“I have not transformed anything,” added the Spanish tactician postgame. “This is a confident Ousmane but it is also down to his teammates — he scores so many goals because of the assist from the others. He is prolific right now which is pleasing for us but the work done by his teammates must be highlighted. You need to ask him what he ate over Christmas — he was good in 2024 but he has been even better in 2025. He is at an excellent level which is perfect for us.”
Dembele’s absurd talent has never been in question throughout his career to date, but his commitment to honing those ludicrous skills and generally handling himself like a top player and athlete has regularly been under the microscope. We are now getting a glimpse of the Vernon-born genius’ true capabilities now that he is focused and dedicated and viewing so far has been nothing short of breathtaking with some sensational and varied goals of late.
Early Ballon d’Or hype is understandable as we are in a non-international year and that Manchester City’s Erling Haaland and Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and Jude Bellingham will already eliminate at least one of themselves before the Champions League round of 16. However, should Dembele’s recent uptick in form continue its sharp ascent and help PSG past either Liverpool or Barcelona in the round of 16 and onto the quarterfinals, the potential Ballon d’Or chatter will not seem so wild and outrageous.
“It is great — we have all been aware of his qualities,” said captain Marquinhos after making history against Brest with his 100th appearance with PSG in the UCL. “He knew that he had to continue doing what he was doing to become even more of a killer. It is magnificent when you see Ousmane playing like that. He unlocks games and gets us results. He has found a position which allows him to highlight his qualities. The coach is an admirer of Ousmane and so are we. When you have this level of confidence, you must not let go of it.”
Dembouz has always been something of an unfulfilled talent with momentary bursts of brilliance followed by lengthy periods spent off the boil and seemingly wasting the natural gifts that he has been blessed with yet refused to refine — until now. Coming of age and stepping out of Mbappe’s shadow with PSG but also Les Bleus could prove to be the making of the final version of Dembele and this edition of the Champions League could be where he writes his defining chapter.
