PSG won’t let up on Chelsea in second leg, Dembélé says
Ousmane Dembélé is feeling ambitious heading into the crucial part of the season and fully intends to star for Paris Saint-Germain and France, while both he and manager Luis Enrique have no intention of letting up on Chelsea in the second leg of their Champions League clash on Tuesday.
Not only does the speedy forward finally feel fit after nagging injuries but he wants to steal the limelight again. Like he did last season when he helped PSG win the Champions League for the first time and he won the Ballon d’Or.
“I am even more determined to win another trophy with PSG,” he said on Monday, a day ahead of the Champions League return leg against Chelsea. “It’s also a World Cup year and I’m extremely motivated. I know I’ve had some injury problems but I need to show myself.”
Calf and hamstring injuries have forced Dembélé to miss 14 matches and to limp off in other games so far this season.
But his superb solo goal in the 5-2 first-leg win last Wednesday — when he ran from the halfway line — was more like the Dembélé of last season and his career-best mark of 35 goals.
“I like to get on the ball a lot,” Dembélé said. “I like to peel off and make a lot of runs, and you need to be at 100% to play in this role. I want to score or assist in every game and that hasn’t changed.”
The three-goal lead could feel insurmountable for a Chelsea side that has fallen out of the top four in the Premier League, but Luis Enrique is still expecting a very difficult game.
“There are four teams with three-goal [advantages],” the PSG coach said referring to Manchester City, Tottenham and Sporting CP, who are all trailing by that margin. “Let’s see how many will qualify. It’s impossible to ease up in the Champions League, impossible. Chelsea will have chances.”
Last season PSG almost crumbled against Aston Villa in the quarterfinals, despite winning the first leg 3-1 in Paris and going 2-0 up in the return match. By the end PSG was clinging on at 3-2 down and narrowly avoided extra time.
“It was a clear example (of) what can happen in a football match,” Luis Enrique said.
Dembélé backed PSG to withstand any comeback.
“Luis Enrique used the word resilience, which characterizes our team. You have to know how to suffer in this competition,” he said. “Any team that has won it has suffered [like] we did against Aston Villa and Arsenal [in the semifinals last season].”
That does not mean PSG will prioritize defending, the France star added.
“We can’t keep just sit in the last 15-20 meters and defend a lead,” Dembélé said. “Our mentality is always to win a match.”
For PSG, one of their problems is choosing who actually makes the XI from an elite squad.
Dembélé is a certain starter, but Luis Enrique must leave out either Khvicha Kvaratskhelia — arguably the best goal-scoring winger in the world — Désiré Doué, who scored two goals in last year’s Champions League final, or the resurgent Bradley Barcola.
Kvaratskhelia made a big impact as a substitute in the first leg last week, scoring twice and assisting on Vitinha‘s goal as PSG pulled away for a flattering win. The scores were level and Chelsea was looking dangerous until a 74th-minute blunder from goalkeeper Filip Jörgensen gifted PSG a lead it then embellished with Kvaratskhelia’s two late goals.
For his first goal Kvaratskhelia cut in from the left and bent a ferocious strike past Jörgensen. The Georgia international prefers playing on the left flank, but that is where Barcola plays and his form makes him hard to drop.
“A lot of players change positions,” Dembélé said. “The coach likes players who play different roles.”
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.