Paris St Germain manager Luis Enrique will hope to count on striker Ousmane Dembele for Sunday’s Club World Cup finale against Chelsea after a stunning 4-0 thrashing over Real Madrid in the tournament’s penultimate stage.
The Ballon d’Or front-runner was rested for the entire group stage after sustaining a thigh injury and was limited to substitute appearances in earlier knockout rounds, getting his first start of the tournament on Wednesday against the LaLiga titans.
He made an immediate impact, aiding Fabian Ruiz in the opening goal in the sixth minute before sending one into the net three minutes later at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
Luis Enrique previously told reporters he believed Dembele is deserving of the Ballon d’Or, and on Wednesday said there was no doubt the Frenchman had once again shown himself worthy of soccer’s top individual honour.
“I’d like to highlight that this is the first game I had my best player, Dembele, at his best,” he told reporters.
“We’d seen him very little throughout this tournament. This is a critical player, a unique player, a player that every fan wants to see... hopefully we can have him for the final.”
The trophy on Sunday against Chelsea would mark a glittering end to a terrific season, as Luis Enrique steered the team to the continental treble, with a 5-0 defeat of Milan in the Champions League final in his second year with the team.
“We are one game away from not just making history but building to history of Paris, of a French club that might get every cup, every tournament,” Luis Enrique told reporters.
“This is very significant for us, for our fans.”
The Club World Cup final is set for Sunday at 9pm.
Meanwhile, Real Madrid will start next season from scratch, manager Xabi Alonso said, after his tactical shift backfired against Paris St Germain.
Missing suspended defender Dean Huijsen and injured Trent Alexander-Arnold, Alonso, who took the reins only weeks ago, reverted to a four-man defence from the back-five that had served them so well earlier in the tournament.
The tactical switch saw tournament sensation Gonzalo Garcia start alongside star forward Kylian Mbappe, who was finally back to full strength after missing much of the competition due to illness, but it failed to pay dividends.
Paris St Germain quickly took advantage of Real’s defensive weakness, netting two goals in the first nine minutes, as the LaLiga side appeared utterly outclassed.
“We were two goals down and we couldn’t find our footing,” Alonso said.
“It was a painful defeat; we must admit that we were not up to standard today.”
Real made no meaningful changes at the break, with Alonso telling reporters he believed they had some scoring chances before he made a flurry of substitutions midway through the second half.
“We had some shortcomings at some points and sometimes it’s good to see our mistakes and you can draw lessons for the future,” he said.
Though the bitter taste of defeat would linger, Alonso assured fans that better things were to come next season and he did not rule out the possibility of further new signings.
“We start a new age after a break, with fresh minds,” he said.
“We want to build a team that plays as a unit, with everyone playing together... we were one match away and it’s painful and let’s see what happens now.”
_Reuters_