Explosive season
PSG need just one more win to achieve their greatest achievement since their founding (August 12, 1970), after winning Ligue 1, the French Cup and the French Super Cup .
For more than a decade, what PSG has not achieved, after all the effort and money invested by Qatari billionaires , is history and tradition - factors that Inter Milan has in abundance when entering the Champions League final in Munich (2am on June 1).
History is not written in a few days. In its 55th year, PSG is hoping to do what Man City did in 2023: beat Inter to win their first Champions League, officially entering the European elite.
“Luis Enrique is doing a great job, completely changing the look of the club ,” Jose Mourinho praised PSG's playing style this season.
PSG eliminated a series of English clubs on the way to Munich with football that captivated the audience : defeating Man City in the group stage "final"; beating Liverpool in the round of 16; eliminating Aston Villa in the quarter-finals; knocking out Arsenal in the semi-finals.
Luis Enrique has built a new PSG - without the ego of Kylian Mbappe - thanks to the dynamism of every position. Above all, the positive results come from the explosion of Ousmane Dembele.
In the first half of the season, Dembele was not very outstanding. He even suffered from star disease and was disciplined by Luis Enrique, removed from the squad in the 0-2 loss to Arsenal in the group stage.
Dembele went to apologize to Enrique - the person who directly brought him back from Barcelona. When ego was put aside and collective consciousness was above all, he exploded like never before.
“Don’t ask me. Ask Ousmane what he ate for Christmas!” , Enrique replied when asked the secret to Dembele’s transformation, after scoring twice in the first leg of the play-off round, winning 3-0 at Brest (PSG won the second leg 7-0).
This season, Dembele has scored 33 goals. In the Champions League, he has 8 goals, equaling his own achievement in all European arenas in nearly 6 seasons at Barca.
Competing for the Golden Ball
Luis Enrique is a symbol of the strategic change that PSG is pursuing after parting ways with Mbappe (before that, Lionel Messi and Neymar), everyone is for the collective and not for anyone in particular.
Dembele is the epitome of Luis Enrique's revolution. In addition to 33 goals, he also has 11 assists.
On average, Dembele is involved in 1.23 goals every 90 minutes on the pitch. This rate drops a bit in the Champions League : 1.01 goals/90 minutes.
Dembele is deployed by Enrique in the middle of a front three, like Mbappe before him. There, he can be a centre-forward, a “number 10”, or drop deep in a central midfield role.
The goal against Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium clearly demonstrated these roles: he dropped back to midfield, passed the ball to the left for Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and then rushed forward to finish decisively.
In PSG's collective play, there are also specific individuals who play a decisive role. Gigio Donnarumma was excellent in goal, Vitinha maintained the balance, and the final score belonged to Dembele.
Experts, based on data analysis, rate Dembele and Barca's Lamine Yamal as the two leading candidates for the Golden Ball, an award that has been decided since last year based on season performance. A little behind is Lautaro Martinez.
Lamine Yamal had such an outstanding season that Simone Inzaghi said “a player like that comes around every half century” . Zinedine Zidane praised, “I have never seen anything like it in my life” .
Barca lost to Lautaro Martinez's Inter in the semi-finals, but both legs saw excellent performances from Yamal. He was a key factor in the Blaugrana winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup, along with a four-match winning streak against Real Madrid.
For many, Yamal has the advantage in the Ballon d'Or vote (awarded on September 22) . However, the Champions League final in Munich, PSG's victory also means the advantage is in Dembele's favor.
“In my opinion, Dembele already deserves the Ballon d'Or. But the season is not over yet and I hope the Champions League final will help him achieve that,” Vitinha commented.
“Honestly, the key to the season is the fact that a real team has been formed, with an excellent leader in Luis Enrique. Among the players, Dembele clearly stands out with his qualities,” the Portuguese stressed.
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/cup-c1-psg-dau-inter-dembele-dua-qua-bong-vang-lamine-yamal-2406573.html
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