Ousmane Dembele could break a Paris Saint-Germain record set by Kylian Mbappe when Les Parisiens face Arsenal in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final at the Emirates on Tuesday night.
The Ligue 1 champions did not directly replace Mbappe when he left for Real Madrid on a free transfer last summer, but Dembele has unexpectedly blossomed into one of Europe’s most lethal forwards in 2024-25.
The former Barcelona and Borussia Dortmund man has amassed a staggering 44 goal contributions from 44 appearances in all tournaments this season – 32 of his own and 12 assists – as he sits two goals clear of Marseille’s Mason Greenwood in the Ligue 1 Golden Boot race.
In the Champions League alone, Dembele has been directly involved in 10 goals in just 12 appearances, finding the back of the net seven times and setting up his teammates on three occasions.
The 27-year-old provided assists in both legs of PSG’s 5-4 aggregate quarter-final triumph over Aston Villa, prior to which he bagged the goal against Liverpool that took the last-16 second leg to penalties.
Dembele two contributions away from breaking Mbappe record
© Imago
With 10 goal involvements in the 2024-25 UCL, Dembele needs just two more to break Mbappe’s record for the most goal contributions in a single Champions League campaign for PSG.
Mbappe set a new all-time best of 11 in the 2020-21 campaign, registering eight goals and three assists en route to the semi-finals, where Mauricio Pochettino‘s Parisiens were knocked out by Manchester City.
Dembele therefore just needs one goal or assist on Tuesday to equal the record set by Mbappe, who failed to lead Les Parisiens to Champions League glory during his time at the club but could now witness his former teammates surge to glory this year.
Dembele will likely be considered a leading candidate for this year’s Ballon d’Or if PSG go on to win their first-ever Champions League title, but both he and his teammates have hit a rough patch of late.
Dembele is without a goal in any of his last six Ligue 1/Champions League appearances, and Luis Enrique‘s men arrive at the Emirates on the back of a shock home loss to Nice in Ligue 1, their first top-flight defeat of the campaign.
Luis Enrique fires stern warning to Arsenal before Champions League semi-final
© Iconsport
Furthermore, the French champions were no match for Arsenal in a 2-0 Champions League league phase loss in October, but Enrique has insisted that his side are a cut above their former selves.
“I think that we’re better than when we lost here in the league phase in October. And I think we’ve shown it on the pitch,” Enrique told journalists at his pre-game press conference.
“Our league phase was intense, with some high-level opponents. That journey has helped us, and today we’re better and we feel stronger. We’re more complete, more confident. We meet them again in the semi-final, and we hope to write history.
“Arsenal are one of the best teams in Europe with a coach that has been doing great work for several years now. It will be difficult, because we’re going to face a top opponent, and there will be a lot of intensity on the pitch. We know that playing here, in this stadium, against this team, is always difficult. It’ll be a great match, that’s for sure.”
PSG’s Champions League semi-final history does not make for pleasant reading for the travelling fans, though, while Arsenal received a double injury boost on Monday ahead of Tuesday’s titanic tie.
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