Ousmane Dembele ready to lead PSG's UEFA Champions League push as league phase gets underway vs. Girona

PARIS -- Ousmane Dembele is quietly enjoying a strong start to the season, which is a big boost for Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique as the UEFA Champions League gets underway this coming midweek. The France international notched his second and third Ligue 1 goals of the campaign in a 3-1 win over Stade Brestois 29 at Parc des Princes last Saturday evening to go with his two assists from four Championnat outings so far. Dembele, 27, headed home late in the first half in the capital to bring Les Parisiens level after falling behind to Romain Del Castillo's penalty opener and added a simple second half finish to continue what has been a productive individual start to 2024-25.

The former Barcelona, Borussia Dortmund and Stade Rennais man now averages better than one goal involvement per game for the French champions and has illustrated unexpected aerial prowess with headed finishes against both Havre AC and Brest. His two assists may have come in the same game at home to Montpellier HSC, but his strike with Les Bleus against Belgium in the UEFA Nations League showed that this hot early term form is transferable between domestic and international duty. If you also consider that Dembele was used as a substitute in two of his six total appearances so far across all competitions, then this form is even more notable.

"I do not know about being a reference point for the team with that showing, but I do hope and try to play well in Games and to be consistent this season," said Dembele following the Brest victory. "I especially want PSG to win, though, and we had to here as the teams chasing us had won and gone ahead of us. We needed to be leaders at the end of this round to prepare well for the Champions League. There are exciting Games to come and we hope to continue to do even better."

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As far as timing goes, it could not be more ideal for Luis Enrique as PSG prepare to open their latest Champions League quest at home to Girona on Wednesday and the Spanish tactician needs his team's top talents to all be ready to deliver from the off in Europe given their tricky draw. Dembele took his time to get going in Paris' run to last year's semifinals which built towards his key role in knocking out former club Barca in the quarterfinals with goals across both legs. He will be expected to contribute with that sort of consistency throughout the whole of the new League Phase and early indications are that he is ready to do so.

"You can feel that he is happy and more confident than he was before," said Luis Enrique of Dembele after the Brest win. "Not only Ousmane, though, as Fabian (Ruiz) also scored a great goal -- great with the national team and now PSG too. We are very happy with both of them and we played really well as a team here."

Given that Dembele is now into his second season back in Ligue 1, it is natural that he is more settled and therefore more iNFLuential at this stage of this campaign than he was at this same point last term. His on field role is also clearer given that one of the main impacts of Kylian Mbappe for someone like Dembele has been to have a more set position and purpose. There is also the challenging aspect of being one of the more senior and experienced players in this Parisien side, which naturally requires stronger leadership than in his first year.

A few other players are also relishing that, notably Bradley Barcola who has emerged as a regular starter in the post-Mbappe era, but Dembele has the sort of seniority which means that his iNFLuence truly counts towards what is becoming a very solid collective under Luis Enrique. That older head -- while still being fairly young himself -- should come to the fore against a unpredictable Girona side that he will be familiar with. The Frenchman will know next week's opponents from his time in La Liga and that will be valuable given that there is no historic European form to help the Championnat giants to prepare for the Spanish outfit's visit.

Dembele himself will be a marked man too, of course, but he and his teaMMAtes will be expected to start their Champions League in winning fashion and the Vernon native could hold the key. PSG without Mbappe are more about the team together being equal to or greater than the combined value of its parts yet Dembele is still one of the main quality elements. His early season consistency can only be good news for Paris as they seek to go at least one step further than last year's UCL final four outing but the major question will be whether it can be maintained through what promises to be a long campaign.