Ousmane Dembélé just fired up Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League campaign with his first two goals of the season in a massive 6-1 home win against Slovan Bratislava on Wednesday, and he wasn’t done there! He also set up two goals for new signing Ferran Torres, whose hat trick absolutely blew up the pitch and pushed Spain’s World-Cup winning forward to five goals already since joining from Barcelona this offseason. Talk about a statement game!
Dembélé’s Redemption Arc Is Heating Up
This was the return to form everyone in Paris was buzzing about for Dembélé, who was one of France’s World Cup stars with six goals last season. Man, he needed this after a seriously frustrating start to the domestic season. Remember that mess? He got pulled at halftime in the Ligue 1 opener after a lackluster showing against Rennes in a 2-2 draw. Then coach Luis Enrique just flat-out left him out of the next game against Lille! And it got worse: he was ineffective as a late sub in that tough 2-1 home loss to Monaco last Friday. Ouch.
But Wednesday? A completely different player. Dembélé put PSG ahead in the 17th minute, reacting super fast after Nuno Mendes’ shot smacked the post and steering that rebound right inside the right post. He even clipped a shot wide moments later, showing he was *on it*, before heading in his second goal in the 23rd minute from an 18-year-old Dro Fernandez cross. He then set up Torres, who just drifted in perfectly for the finish. You even saw him drop to his knees in frustration when he somehow hit the crossbar from close range, that’s how much he wanted it. It’s a reminder that this guy won the Ballon d’Or last year, and ten PSG players were even nominated Tuesday on this year’s shortlist of 30. This is the Dembélé everyone knows!
Torres’ Triple Threat Powers PSG’s Attack
Ferran Torres wasn’t just lurking; he was absolutely clinical. That hat trick performance was pure class. For his second goal, moments after the break, he showed delightful skill, taking a deft touch to control Maghnes Akliouche’s pass before curling the ball in from the edge of the area. Akliouche, by the way, created that goal with a jinking run from deep, the exact type he used to torch PSG for Monaco last season. Then, Torres guided in Dembélé’s corner from the right for his hat trick in the 57th minute. Sure, Slovan’s Suleiman Camara got a fine finish moments later, but it barely registered.
This was a much easier contest for PSG, taking advantage of a weak opposition, but they still had to execute, right? They mustered a ridiculous 35 shots on goal and put 13 on target! Slovan’s defense was just sloppy, even gifting Fabian Ruiz the ball for the sixth goal late on. This kind of explosive win is huge, especially after PSG failed to win their previous four games before facing Slovan, conceding seven goals and even losing the French Super Cup to Lens. Talk about a much-needed shake-up for Luis Enrique’s squad.
With Bradley Barcola now at Liverpool, Akliouche started alongside Torres and Dembélé, and this trio looked *good*, combining well to stretch Slovan’s limited defense. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, another star from last season’s Champions League-winning campaign, was even on the bench. Luis Enrique is clearly fine-tuning his attack after the departures of Barcola and Gonçalo Ramos. Watching how this revamped offense gels and develops throughout the season is going to be wild!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Fox Sports.
Leave a Reply