Ousmane Dembélé, the 29-year-old Paris Saint-Germain forward, spoke to Canal+ after the 6-1 victory over Slovan Bratislava this Wednesday at the Parc des Princes, marking Matchday 1 of the 2026-2027 Champions League league phase.
Dembélé: “That’s everything I love about football.”
Were you eager to play a match like this?
Yes, of course. After a difficult start where I didn’t play much—just 20 or 45 minutes here and there—it wasn’t easy. But I’m happy; today I got 60 minutes under my belt, and we really needed to win this match because we’ve had a poor start to the season.
We needed a good start in this Champions League, a competition we know well. We’re happy, and I’m happy with my performance too. We have to keep going, because we need to climb the table in the league.
What is your physical and mental state right now?
Very good; when I’m on the pitch, I don’t think about that. I needed to get back up to speed physically, especially after the World Cup and the lack of a proper break. I’m feeling better and better, and I hope to get even more minutes to find my rhythm against Brest and in upcoming matches, as well as with the national team. Winning games, scoring goals, providing assists—that’s everything I love about football.
Dembélé: “We’ll have to set very high standards.”
A modest opponent, but a match that will do you good?
Yes, of course; as I said, we got off to a bad start. Today was a great night. We need to keep it up. We hold ourselves to even higher standards because we are a team that has won the Champions League twice, and every team wants to beat us. We need to be very demanding, and the new players must learn quickly. We will continue trying to win plenty of matches and trophies.
