PARIS,: Paris Saint-Germain’s chances of beating Arsenal and reaching the Champions League final may depend to a large extent on Ousmane Dembele rediscovering the form in front of goal that made him Europe’s most lethal finisher in the first three months of this year.
Dembele scored 25 goals in 20 games in all competitions for PSG between mid-December and mid-March, his statistics those of a player completely transformed as he was turned by coach Luis Enrique from a winger into a central striker.
That included a crucial goal against Liverpool at Anfield on the way to PSG winning their Champions League last-16 tie on penalties.
However, a few days later the 27-year-old went away on international duty with France and since his return Dembele has lost some of his clinical edge.
The former Barcelona star, previously a thrilling winger but an often wayward finisher, has found the net just twice in his last seven outings at club level.
Both of those goals came in a French Cup semi-final victory against second-tier Dunkerque in early April.
Dembele was not on target in either leg of the Champions League quarter-final victory against Aston Villa, a tie in which PSG found themselves hanging on grimly to their advantage at the end.
He also failed to add to his Ligue 1 leading goals tally of 21 in the French champions’ 3-1 home loss against Nice on Friday, despite seven shots over the course of the evening.
His recent record has coincided with PSG losing a little of the magic which made them arguably the best team in Europe in the early spring — they have won just once in their last four matches.
Nevertheless, Luis Enrique has insisted he is not worried about Dembele’s diminishing statistics in recent games, and recently waved away suggestions that his star man is frustrated at the goals drying up.
“Sometimes you imagine things,“ he said in response to a question on the subject following a 1-1 draw in Nantes last week, when Dembele did appear a little vexed on being replaced in the second half.
“Everyone deals with their emotions how they want and how they can. I just want to lead the players towards our objective. We are going into our remaining matches full of hope.”
Dropped last time against Gunners
Dembele did produce a fine assist for Fabian Ruiz to score PSG’s goal on Friday against Nice, when a 3-1 defeat ended their unbeaten record in domestic competition this season.
He was also involved in setting up goals in both legs against Aston Villa, and in many ways the tie against Arsenal brings him and his team full circle in this campaign.
PSG were beaten 2-0 by Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium at the start of October, a game Dembele missed after being surprisingly dropped.
Luis Enrique was reportedly unhappy at aspects of Dembele’s performance in a prior league match which he had judged to be selfish.
“The best thing I did was not play him in London, for which I was strongly criticised,“ Luis Enrique recalled in February.
“It is the best decision I have made this year. The rest is all down to him, but what happened in London was very important.”
The transformation was not immediate, and Dembele was then sent off in PSG’s 1-0 defeat away to Bayern Munich in late November. It was on his return from suspension that he started to bang in the goals.
The onus is not entirely on Dembele, with Bradley Barcola and Desire Doue also in prolific form recently and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia showing what he can do with a breathtaking strike against Villa.
PSG are now determined to avenge their October loss to the Gunners and make it through to the final, a year after being beaten by Borussia Dortmund at the same stage of the competition.
Dembele was also at Barcelona when they lost to Liverpool in the semi-finals in 2019, and going all the way this time would make him a leading candidate to win this year’s Ballon d’Or.
