
On the eve of the Chelsea-PSG clash, Ousmane Dembélé spoke for the first time about his strong media intervention in Rennes on Feb. 13, and believes it has paid off. The No. 10 even assured that he "does not regret it at all."
On Feb. 13, following a disappointing 3-1 defeat in Rennes, Ousmane Dembélé came out swinging to point out the excessive individualism of his team and remind his teammates and himself that they must continue to put the collective before their own person to hope for an end to the season as glorious as the previous one.
Luis Enrique had not necessarily appreciated this media initiative from his No. 10, but everything has since returned to normal, with a qualification against Monaco in the Champions League playoff, first place in Ligue 1 reclaimed from Lens, and a round of 16 tie well underway against Chelsea after the 5-2 first-leg victory.
Nearly a month after his media appearance in Rennes, Ousmane Dembélé was in a news conference on Monday, on the eve of Chelsea vs. PSG, and the first question posed to him concerned his famous media intervention last month. With a simple question: Does he regret the interpretation that was made of his statement?
"No, I don't regret it at all. As I said, it's only like that that PSG can win. And then, it was a little phrase for the whole team, and I think it has paid off," he replied with a slight smile. At the end of the news conference, a journalist followed up on the subject and asked him whether he believed his teammates were now less individualistic than they were last month.
The results are overall rather good, despite the difficulties encountered against an AS Monaco that is decidedly tricky for the Parisians, and the latter demonstrated against Chelsea a beautiful collective spirit, each making the necessary efforts in defense while playing collectively in attack. In short, everything seems to be going better in the Parisian squad.
Followed up on this first response, Dembélé validated the behavior of the PSG players: "It's not that they are less individualistic, but I think that in some matches we could make the pass to the best-placed player," he replied. "But it was resolved very, very quickly; there was no argument or things like that in the locker room. We told each other things, and everything went well. It's an intelligent group, we all push each other upward, and we put PSG first."
They are even very close to reaching the Champions League quarterfinals.
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