Dembélé Lights Up PSG as Ballon d'Or Glory Sparks a 100th-Game Milestone

Return to Glory and a 7-2 Statement

Ousmane Dembélé, fresh off winning the Ballon d'Or, made his first appearance for Paris Saint-Germain since that historic accolade. He entered the game as a substitute against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League and, within three minutes, found the net as PSG produced a commanding 7-2 victory. The night felt like a showcase of PSG’s attacking depth and Dembélé’s renewed form after returning from a thigh muscle injury suffered in September while playing for France against Ukraine in the World Cup qualifiers for 2026.

100 PSG Appearances, 44 Goals, 32 Assists

Tonight’s performance came with a notable milestone: the winger’s 100th appearance for PSG in all competitions since joining from Barcelona in 2023 for 50 million euros. Across those 100 matches, Dembélé has tallied 44 goals and 32 assists, along with 10 bookings and a single red card, underscoring his impact on the team’s offensive machinery.

From Treble to European Ambitions

Since arriving at the Parc des Princes, Dembélé has helped PSG win domestic league titles, the French Cup, and the French Super Cup in successive seasons, while also lifting the UEFA Champions League and the European Super Cup for the club’s first time in history. The 28-year-old has been a key figure in PSG’s continental campaigns, including a campaign that began with a French Super Cup triumph over Tottenham and has seen three straight Champions League victories against Atalanta, Barcelona, and Leverkusen.

After the Leverkusen thrashing, the club posted the milestone on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting that this was Dembélé’s 100th PSG appearance since joining from Barcelona in 2023. The post reflected the pride of the PSG family, with Dembélé himself expressing satisfaction at returning from injury and contributing to a victory that carried the momentum of the Ballon d'Or celebration into European competition.

In his PSG career so far, the French international has notched 26 league goals in 58 Ligue 1 games, added contributions in the Coupe de France and the Coupe de la Ligue, and maintained a solid Champions League tally with 11 goals in 27 appearances, plus a couple more in the FIFA Club World Cup appearances where PSG were runners-up last summer in the US.

Reflecting on the win, Dembélé said the performance felt like a “champion’s showcase,” noting a strong start, a red card that created a scare, and a triumphant finish that demonstrated PSG’s depth and intent to push through the season with the same intensity. Coach Luis Enrique lauded the team’s focus, while Dembélé himself thanked the club, teammates, and supporters for backing him during the comeback and milestone night.

Season snapshot: PSG sat with five wins and one loss after eight Ligue 1 rounds, a result that includes a classic French derby defeat to Marseille but two opening wins against Nantes and Angers, followed by a 6-3 thrashing of Toulouse and a 2-0 win over Lens. A 1-1 draw at Lille and a 3-3 home draw with Strasbourg tempered the progress, yet a season still showing PSG’s ambition. In Europe, PSG began the campaign by lifting the European Super Cup on penalties against Tottenham after a 2-2 draw, and then recorded three straight Champions League wins over Atalanta, Barcelona, and Leverkusen as the group phase unfolded.

PSG’s calendar remains crowded as the Ballon d’Or glow lingers, and Dembélé’s comeback forms part of a broader narrative about the club’s quest for domestic dominance and a renewed European challenge.

Punchline warning: If patience is a virtue, Dembélé just proved it’s a superpower—he returned, scored in three minutes, and still left the defense asking for the manual. Punchline 2: After that performance, the ball filed for a sponsorship with Dembélé—clearly, it wanted a 100th appearance selfie too.