Luis Enrique believes one of his star players is worthy of winning the Ballon d’Or after Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League triumph.
The French club romped to an astonishing 5-0 win over Inter in Munich to secure their long-awaited first European crown.
A Desire Doue double, as well as goals from Achraf Hakimi, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and substitute Senny Mayulu, secured a historic treble for PSG who have come of age under their Spanish coach.
And while he didn’t get on the scoresheet last night, Enrique singled out Dembele for special praise after the Frenchman produced another tone-setting display, pressing the life out of Inter’s backline and playing a key role in two of the goals.
Dembele has come a long way since he was left out of the squad for a group stage defeat against Arsenal but returned with a new, revamped attitude that has yielded incredible results.
‘As a team, we have demonstrated an incredible way of defending,’ said Enrique in his post match press conference.
‘Everyone is talking about the Ballon d’Or. I would give it to Ousmane Dembele for his way of defending.
‘He is a model, his pressing. In the final, he was exceptional. He deserves it for his goals but especially for his way of defending.
‘We have put in some very high-level performances. Now we are going to celebrate that.’
Enrique joined PSG last July and has overseen the development of a brilliant young team following the departure of star striker Kylian Mbappe to Real Madrid.
It was the 55-year-old’s second treble as a manager after winning the Champions League, LaLiga and Copa del Rey at Barcelona in 2015.
The Eiffel Tower was lit up in the red and blue of PSG to mark their first Champions League triumph, and only the second by a French club after Marseille in 1993.
Enrique said: ‘Since day one, I said I wanted to win important trophies, and Paris had never won the Champions League.
‘We did it for the first time. It’s a great feeling to make many people happy.
‘I tried to keep the pressure down for a club that had never won the competition. Inter are a great side, but we were fantastic in our pressing.
‘Every player improved this season, and so did the team.
‘A coach needs to control their emotions – you need to deal with the pressure in order to help the players.
‘We prepared the final with the necessary calm to put the excitement in the right place. Now we can enjoy it; we can take the trophy back to Paris.
‘We had a great start to the game, dominating from the beginning. But I wanted them to keep pushing, scoring, to ensure we won the game.’