Ousmane Dembélé on reaching the pinnacle with Paris and daring to aim higher

Ousmane Dembélé symbolised Paris' dramatic upsurge in form in the early months of 2025, scoring 26 goals in all competitions for club and country from the start of January to his club's 5-0 UEFA Champions League final win against Inter in Munich on 31 May. That completed a treble for the French side, and they are now hoping to start the new season as they mean to go on with victory against UEFA Europa League winners Tottenham in the UEFA Super Cup in Udine.

Speaking to UEFA.com, the 28-year-old UEFA Champions League Player of the Season talks over his remarkable form in front of goal, that magical night in Munich and what lies ahead for the European champions.

On his goalscoring surge at the start of 2025

I think it was our season before anything else. Every player has upped their qualities, whether it's in the Champions League, in Ligue 1; we played much better. Personally, I gained a lot of confidence after scoring one or two goals. When you pile up goals every two or three days, you have much more confidence. My team-mates helped me a lot and I also managed to position myself well in front of the goal in order to score.

On the Champions League final against Inter

There were helicopters above the hotel waiting for us to arrive. I remember those moments, we were all so in the zone. Before that game we really were confident, we had a gameplan and we felt it was our year. Before kick-off we were just all so focused, but also happy to be a part of that final, playing in front of our fans who had made the journey. It was simply incredible.

We took [Inter] by the scruff of their necks right from the get-go. We didn't want to give them anything, and we ended up scoring really quickly thanks to a great move, an amazing pass from Vitinha to Désiré [Doué]. Then we all thought Désiré was going to shoot, but he saw that Achraf [Hakimi] was in a better position than himself, so he passed it and all of a sudden we were 1-0 up. And after that we never let up.

On Luis Enrique

He's a manager who loves the game and what he does. I've changed positions a bit [under him], but it's a position that I used to play in quite a lot in the early days of my career and when I was a youngster. I can quickly adapt to different positions no problem. I'm a bit freer to come inside a bit more, which I really like, but I'm just trying to help the team any way I can.

As he told us since he came to the club, whether it’s one, two, or 3-0, we have to keep playing the same way and attack together as an XI, defend together, and in that final, we saw [that]. We did it from beginning to end. It was amazing.

On the feeling of having the Champions League trophy in his hand

It's heavy but it's beautiful. It's the most beautiful trophy I've ever seen. It was a dream [come true]: winning the Champions League with Paris Saint-Germain, the [club's] very first, is even more amazing. It's something that goes by so fast, but at the time, it's unbelievable to experience those moments with your team-mates. Also, it's the end of the season; you've given absolutely everything and winning the biggest trophy is unbelievable.

On Paris' hopes for the new Champions League season

The same as last season. We know we're going to be one of the teams to beat, but we have the same goals as last season, which is to win everything.