‘Leader’ Dembele deserves Ballon d’Or says Enrique as PSG boss praises his ‘exceptional’ off the ball work | OneFootball

Luis Enrique says PSG’s “leader” Ousmane Dembele deserves to win the Ballon d’Or.

Dembele scored eight goals on the way to the Champions League final in Munich, where PSG thrashed Inter Milan 5-0 to win their first Champions League trophy.

And while Dembele did not add to that tally in the final, the PSG boss singled out the Frenchman for his pressing and backed him to be crowned the best footballer in Europe.

“Everyone’s talking about the Ballon d’Or, I would give it to Ousmane Dembele,” Enrique said after his side’s Champions League win.

“Just because of, if we think about how he defended today. He showed just what he was made of. He was a leader, he was humble, he defended.

“Without a shadow of a doubt, he deserves this. Not just for the goals that he’s scored but also for the pressing we saw. We’ve seen such a season from him and he was exceptional.”

PSG got off to the perfect start when Achraf Hakimi slotted in from close range on just 12 minutes.

Doue then grabbed his first and his side’s second with a deflected strike which beat Yann Sommer, before adding his second just after the hour mark to make it 3-0.

Khvicha Kvaratskheklia and youngster Senny Mayulu then added one each to round off a brutal beating for Inter.

“My team was exceptional,” Enrique added. “There was so much pressure coming from Inter Milan, it was very intense. Dembele was pressing, he was incredible. He didn’t give them room to breathe.

“They couldn’t find their feet, couldn’t find their players. As soon as we had goalscoring opportunities, we found the back of the net.

“All of these players have brought something to the team. This has allowed us to get to where we are and I think we have shown just how exceptional this is.”