Latest news with #Dembélé
LeMonde
2 hours ago
- Entertainment
- LeMonde
PSG celebrates Champions League victory throughout Paris: 'It's like the 1998 World Cup'
Blue and red were everywhere, even lighting up the Eiffel Tower. Some gray and white shirts, and even pink and yellow, though less frequent, also made appearances throughout the entire weekend of Saturday, May 31, and Sunday, June 1, as streets, sidewalks and metro stations of Paris became the scene of a multicolored parade rarely seen, not even during Fashion Week. By the hundreds and thousands, Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) supporters proudly wore their colors. On Saturday, they paraded with caution, as if intimidated by the upcoming event. On Sunday, after what many called their most beautiful night as fans – PSG's sweeping victory over Inter Milan (5-0) in the Champions League final in Munich, Germany – tens of thousands flocked to the Champs-Elysées to celebrate their heroes. Paris Police capped the gathering at 110,000, all gathered on the same side of the avenue. They came, they were all there, packed tightly together or, for the bolder ones, perched atop a bus shelter, a newsstand or traffic lights. From the Rond-Point des Champs-Elysées to Place de l'Etoile stretched a human ribbon of jubilation over a kilometer long, a rare sight in Paris. Many wore their finest PSG outfits, representing the club's 50-year history, with sometimes forgotten sponsors and the names of past and present stars on their backs: Dembélé and Marquinhos, of course, but also Messi, Neymar, Mbappé, even Verratti or Pastore, and a few personal nicknames like "Toto" or "Gege."
Telegraph
5 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
PSG the antidote to cautious over-coaching that made Premier League duller
The image of the night – a recurring image – during Paris St-Germain's demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final was provided by one of the players who did not score in the 5-0 victory. It was Ousmane Dembélé who adopted a starting position every time Inter took a goal-kick on the edge of their penalty area that was akin to a sprinter ready to spring from the blocks. When the ball was played, Dembélé propelled himself forward to set the press and close down the opposition for the most exciting, creative team in the world at present. 🚨 Special camera from the Champions League final Watch how Ousmane Dembele was pressing Watch the horror in Sommer's eyes. Enrique said : Is there a player in the world who presses better than Ousmane Dembele? What a beast that never stops running 🤯 — KinG £ (@xKGx__) June 1, 2025 Dembélé's incredible work-rate, allied to his skill and teamwork, is all the more impressive because earlier this season he was dropped from the PSG squad – for the Champions League group game away to Arsenal, which was lost – because of a fall-out with head coach Luis Enrique who did not like his attitude. Dembélé was just not doing what the Spaniard wanted. Now the 28-year-old France international is probably the favourite to win the Ballon d'Or. What a transformation and what a transformation of PSG's football by the demanding Enrique. PSG play football for the new era. They are the antidote to the safety-first, over-coached approach that has unfortunately crept into the Premier League and that involves too many managers wanting to copy Pep Guardiola. Without being able to reach those standards. Even Guardiola has fallen short of them. Cole Palmer was revealing as he turned match-winner in Chelsea's Europa Conference League triumph. The England international admitted he had grown bored with having to play the ball sideways and backwards – presumably under instruction from Enzo Maresca – and decided to grab the game by the scruff of the neck with two brilliant assists. Where Jose Mourinho and Rafael Benítez, with their defensive-first approach, helped define the football of the early 2000s and then Guardiola did so for the next decade with a progressive, possession-based approach, so Enrique's PSG has shown Europe the way forward now. With honourable exceptions such as Liverpool, Newcastle United and smaller clubs such as Bournemouth, too many Premier League clubs are guilty of possession for possession's sake and appear to believe keeping the ball is more important than risking losing it by trying to score. How many times have we seen the ball played from right to left and back again, obviously and understandably probing for space, only a winger to be picked out. And what do they do? Stop, turn, check back and play a pass infield. Just take on your marker! Run into the space ahead of you! Make the opposition commit! Take a risk! The coaching approach of many managers – obsessed with statistics and expected goals – has not helped. Take Arsenal's Mikel Arteta, who argued all the data suggested his team deserved to beat PSG in the semi-finals. But anyone who watched the game would have concluded otherwise. To an extent it has become paralysis by analysis and although no one analyses the game more than Enrique – who often stands high up on a scaffold so he gets an overview of training – he also demands far more bravery and positivity in how his players do attack. Right-back Achraf Hakimi even pops up on the left wing. Quarter-final goal ✅ Semi-final goal ✅ Final goal ✅ Achraf Hakimi gives PSG an early lead in the Champions League final, but refuses to celebrate against his former side Inter ⚽ 📺 @tntsports & @discoveryplusUK — Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt) May 31, 2025 Punditry does not help. Some of it is excellent. Gary Neville is along the right lines when he talks about teams being 'micro-managed'. But then the same players are micro-analysed on television and any mistake is seized upon, with replay after replay and touchscreens and some pretty damning comments. It adds to the growing sense of wanting to be risk-averse. "That's not a Premier League game of football." Gary Neville explains why he's disappointed after the Manchester derby. — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 6, 2025 Which brings us back to what PSG do and how they can provide a template. First of all, it requires a huge amount of energy and buy-in with the 10 outfield players asked to counter-press and man-mark all over the pitch – a bit like Andoni Iraola's Bournemouth. It probably also needs a team of athletic, technically superb youngsters, which PSG have assembled. Dembélé sets that press, effectively, by being a 'false' nine who harries the opposition but also has licence to interchange with the two wingers, who make up the front three in the fluid, 4-3-3 formation. Crucially, though, those wingers stay wide. The demand is that they go high and run at, or beyond, their full-backs. That is where the real threat lies, not coming back inside where the pitch is more congested. It helps to have wingers of the quality and game intelligence of Désiré Doué, the man of the match in the final, and Bradley Barcola, who started the season ahead of Doué but replaced him off the bench against Inter. And then there is Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, whose arrival from Napoli in the January window lit the red-and-blue touch paper. The Georgian is the most swashbuckling and charismatic winger in world football and, like Doué and Barcola, works prodigiously hard. Another of the images from Munich was Kvaratskhelia sprinting back to tackle an Inter player deep in his own half even though the game was won. He celebrated as if he had scored. And then went down the other end and scored. It is also risky. PSG lost the ball several times in dangerous positions and Inter were unable to capitalise, partly through some great defending, but also because of their shortcomings. Yes, PSG are effectively a state-owned and were assembled at enormous cost. They still have a vast wage bill, despite moving on from the galacticos of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappé. That is a valid argument and should not be overlooked but neither should the football they play and just how entertaining they are at a time when there is genuine concern over the direction in which the sport is heading at the highest level. Both those thoughts can co-exist and other clubs have also spent heavily without coming close to achieving such a return. On the night, PSG's brilliance was highlighted even more by Inter's far more rigid, essentially conservative, 3-5-2 approach, with set-pieces providing their best hope of scoring. This is not the sort of football we want, surely? Enrique has shown the way, as Guardiola did, and it is up to other coaches – including Guardiola – to respond. Football will be the better for it.
Sharjah 24
6 hours ago
- Sport
- Sharjah 24
Dembélé named best player in UEFA Champions League
Ousmane Dembélé of Paris Saint-Germain has been awarded the title of Best Player in the UEFA Champions League, just one day after his team's impressive win over Inter Milan in Munich. This recognition serves as a significant boost to the French international's ambitions for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award, which will be presented on September 22. Stellar Season Performance Dembélé finished the current season with 33 goals and 15 assists across various competitions, playing a crucial role in securing his team's first-ever Champions League title, a long-awaited achievement, in addition to winning the French league and domestic cup. Tactical transformation Spanish coach Luis Enrique found the magical formula for Dembélé, transforming him from a right winger into a "false nine," a position between a traditional striker and a playmaker. The Frenchman has been at the forefront of building attacks and delivering key final touches.
LeMonde
14 hours ago
- Sport
- LeMonde
PSG fans raise the roof as triumphant players hold aloft Champions League trophy
Paris Saint-Germain players walked into a wall of noise at their home stadium on Sunday, June 1, and brandished aloft the Champions League trophy that their fans have waited so long to savor. Coach Luis Enrique, the architect of PSG's astonishing 5-0 destruction of Inter Milan in Munich on Saturday night, received a huge ovation at Parc des Princes, as did the influential Ousmane Dembélé and his teammates when they came onto the field one by one. Their faces were shown on a giant screen and, when Dembélé's face was displayed, fans inside the 49,000-capacity stadium broke out into chants of "Dembélé, Ballon d'Or" in the hope he wins the most coveted individual award in world soccer. But the loudest cheer of the night was for long-serving captain Marquinhos, who walked with club president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi alongside him and with the Champions League trophy between them. Al-Khelaïfi and Dembélé were both tossed into the air by PSG's players, who then did a lap of honor after the greatest success in the club's 55-year history. Open-top bus parade PSG had earlier Sunday put on an open-top bus parade in the French capital for its fans. The winners of European club soccer's biggest prize arrived in Paris on Sunday afternoon and headed to France's most famous avenue, the Champs-Élysées, which overnight Saturday saw acts of violence and clashes with riot police. Thousands of police were deployed Sunday to keep order with similar tactics to those used on Saturday night, Paris police chief Laurent Nunez told reporters. PSG fans waved blue and red as they waited for the team bus to arrive at shortly after 5 pm. When the parade started, the atmosphere was calm as fans stood behind barriers with riot police in front of them. Fans roared when Marquinhos brandished the trophy over his head, then passed it down to other players on the bus. Enrique joined in with the fans as they sang one of the club's anthems, and Dembélé blew kisses. The team later met with French President Emmanuel Macron and first lady Brigitte Macron at the Élysée Palace, with players wearing club tracksuits and PSG jerseys. After leaving the palace, the players arrived at the Parc des Princes, for a concert, light show and presentation of the trophy. Fans sang "Champions d'Europe" ("Champions of Europe") as they waited for the ceremony. PSG denounces 'isolated acts' of violence The exuberance on display in most places was overshadowed by the deaths of two people and some 200 injuries during Saturday night's celebrations. A total of 294 arrests had been made overnight and two cars were set alight close to Parc des Princes, which had shown the game live. The overnight fatalities marred a night of exuberance after PSG clinched its first − and long-awaited − Champions League title. The Eiffel Tower glowed in team colors and fans partied through the night. PSG denounced the violence. "These isolated acts are contrary to the club's values, and don't at all represent the immense majority of our fans," PSG said in a statement. Celebrations were largely peaceful but degenerated into violence in some areas. A 17-year-old boy was stabbed to death in the western city of Dax during a PSG street party after the final, the national police service said. The regional prosecutor said the killing was not apparently linked to the match. In Paris, a man in his 20s was killed in Paris when his scooter was hit by a car during PSG celebrations. Help us improve Le Monde in English Dear reader, We'd love to hear your thoughts on Le Monde in English! Take this quick survey to help us improve it for you. Take the survey A police officer was hit accidentally by fireworks at a PSG gathering in Northwest France and placed in an artificial coma because of grave eye injuries. A total of 201 people were injured around the capital, four of them seriously, the Paris police said. Tear gas was used near the stadium and water cannons used near the Arc de Triomphe to disperse rowdy crowds. But at the Place de la Bastille, joyous fans climbed onto the base of the famous column, singing, dancing and letting off flares, while those around them joined in. Nunez blamed the scattered troubles on "thousands of people who came to commit acts of violence" instead of watching the match. He noted similar unrest on the sidelines of prior celebrations in the capital, such as after France's World Cup win in 2018.
Yahoo
15 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
🎥 PSG celebrate in Paris: fireworks, Macron backs Al Khelaifi 🔥
The Champions League final against Inter was dominated by PSG, who won the 'Big Ears Cup' for the first time in their history. Everything had been ready for days: the Parisian team, who landed in Paris on a special plane and were led by president Nasser Al Khelaifi, paraded through the streets of the capital on two open-top buses, celebrating the triumph together with over 110,000 jubilant fans on the Champs-Élysées. Advertisement A procession of motorcycles and scooters accompanied the parade, with chants, flags, and flares, all the way to the Élysée Palace for a meeting with President Emmanuel Macron. 😅 Macron 'pushes' Al Khelaifi 🎇 Fireworks at the Arc de Triomphe 🏆 Dembélé, the celebration with the fans 😍 The welcome for Dembélé 🎉 The party at Parc des Princes Incredible joy in the streets of Paris for the first Champions League in the history of the French club. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here. 📸 FRANCK FIFE - AFP or licensors
