Paris Saint-Germain left Manchester with a 4-2 Champions League victory, and Ousmane Dembélé used the occasion to answer doubts around the French champions with a mixture of defiance and mischief.
The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner scored PSG’s second goal against Manchester City and initially gave a measured response to questions about those who had questioned the side. “It makes no difference to us that people doubted us,” he said. “It is October. We have to do the job in the first half of the season and get ready for the second.”
But the forward’s mood loosened when the conversation turned to criticism he has faced during his time with France. Asked whether he had wanted to set the record straight, Dembélé replied sarcastically that he had not. He referred to an international break before saying he had then gone on holiday, adding that he might even ask for more time away.
“They have been criticising me for 10 years, so that is not going to change, is it?” he said with a laugh.
Dembélé also made clear that Champions League nights remain particularly appealing to him. “I really enjoy playing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays,” he said, joking that this was especially true after returning from holiday.
His humour continued when he was asked whether his break might extend into the weekend. Dembélé said it was possible and suggested, laughing, that it could even last until March. The remark came despite his limited league involvement: he has started only three of PSG’s six Ligue 1 matches this season.
He ended the interview by trying to identify PSG’s next opponents, saying he thought they were due to face Le Havre. They are not: Strasbourg are next on the domestic schedule, with PSG returning from a significant European win to the more routine demands of their league campaign.
