Dembele 'deserves to win everything' after PSG heroics – Luis Enrique
Paris Saint-Germain booked their place in the Club World Cup final with a 4-0 win over Real Madrid, with Ousmane Dembele starring.
Luis Enrique believes Ousmane Dembele "deserves to win everything" after helping Paris Saint-Germain to the Club World Cup final.
Dembele played a starring role for the European champions on Wednesday, grabbing a goal and an assist as PSG swept aside Real Madrid 4-0 at MetLife Stadium.
The France international teed up Fabian Ruiz in the sixth minute for the game's opening goal before slotting past Thibaut Courtois three minutes later.
In the process, he became the first player to be involved in two goals against Madrid in the first nine minutes of a match in any competition since at least the 2002-03 season.
Dembele, who was making his first start in the competition after overcoming injury, now has 30 goal involvements (22 goals, eight assists) in 2025, with his overall tally since the start of the 2024-25 season standing at 35 goals and 14 assists.
After helping PSG to a domestic treble and their first Champions League title, the 28-year-old is among the favourites to win this year's Ballon d'Or.
And Luis Enrique believes Dembele is deserving of that accolade, telling DAZN: "It's the first match of this Club World Cup that we can use Ousmane as a starter because he was injured with the [French] national team, and we tried to take care of him.
"I think he's the best player this season by a long way.
"He deserves to win everything because he gave everything to the team, and the team has achieved trophies, which is the most important thing to the club."
PSG's ruthless display in the first half, in which Fabian scored twice, laid the foundations to hand Xabi Alonso his first defeat in the Madrid dugout.
Luis Enrique's team led by three goals after 24 minutes, the first time they had done so since putting three past Monaco in Ligue 1 back in 2018.
PSG brought up their 48th win since the start of the 2024-25 season (eight draws, eight losses), their highest total in a single season in club history (surpassing the previous record of 47 from 2015-16).
But standing between them and Club World Cup glory at the first attempt is Chelsea, who beat Fluminense 2-0 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
It will be the first meeting between the two sides since 2016, when PSG beat the Blues 4-2 on aggregate in their round of 16 tie in the Champions League.
And Luis Enrique has set his sights on capping a memorable season with another piece of silverware.
"We are going to try – one more step against Chelsea," Luis Enrique added. "They have done great. We are almost there, we want to make history and then take a holiday."
