- PSG progressed to the Champions League quarter-final after beating Liverpool
- Parisian’s were perfect in the shootout after claiming a 1-0 win in normal time
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! With the Premier League likely securing five Champions League spots, are we rewarding mediocrity?
Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembele showed off his ambidexterity in the French side’s Champions League last-16 win over Liverpool.
Luis Enrique men’s triumphed in a penalty shootout after the two sides could not be separated after more than 200 minutes of play. And Dembele, who has been in red hot form in 2025, confidently dispatched his spot-kick in the victory.
The Frenchman is now realising the prodigious talent that motivated Barcelona to part with £97million to pry him away from Borussia Dortmund after only one season in Germany.
Aside from his devastating speed and incredible agility, the winger’s ability with either foot has long been heralded. Indeed, a popular social media clip – that is again doing the rounds after his heroics at Anfield – shows a young Dembele explaining that he ‘shoots better’ with his right foot despite being predominately left footed.
The 27-year-old exhibited this astounding talent once more against the Reds as he shaped to take his penalty with his left foot before curving his run up and smashing the ball into the back of the net with his right.
The winger, who scored in normal time to level the aggregate score, was later seen enthusiastically celebrating the second of Gigi Donnarumma’s saves in the shootout which effectively handed PSG the win.
Ousmane Dembele grabbed the only goal in normal time as PSG dumped Liverpool out of the Champions League
The 27-year-old shaped to take his penalty with his left foot before curving his approach and smashing the ball into the back of the net with his right
Dembele’s strike at Anfield was his 21st of the calendar year. A figure no player in Europe’s top five leagues can match.
Dembele is enjoying the best season of his career after PSG placed their trust in him as the leader of their project post-Kylian Mbappe.
After a first season at PSG where Dembele stood out more for providing assists, this campaign Enrique has implemented a tactical shift, positioning him as a false nine. In this new role, he is surpassing Mbappe’s numbers and has emerged as the undisputed star of the team.
In France, many view this transformation into a goal-scoring forward as a defining step in the 27-year-old’s career that promised so much since his emergence ten years ago at Rennes. A phrase often recalled is that of former Rennes’ coach, Julien Stephan, who last year said: ‘He is an exceptional player. If he was a better finisher, he would have won the Ballon D’Or by now.’
That belief is also shared within PSG’s coaching staff, including Luis Enrique, who has repeatedly stated that Dembele is the most ‘destabilising’ player in the world as he leads a dynamic attack and puts opponents on the back foot.
