How Ousmane Dembele became the poster boy of a new-look PSG - the ex-Barcelona winger is thriving in a new role to lead Europe's scoring charts this year, writes LEWIS STEELE

When English football fans think back to Liverpool's famed comeback from 3-0 down to beat Barcelona in 2019, many will recall Trent Alexander-Arnold's quickly-taken corner routine to fox the defenders or the general scenes of what the Catalans would call a remontada. Ousmane Dembele is in the form of his life prior to PSG's Champions League tie with Liverpool Dembele's first leg miss for Barcelona was a crucial moment in the semi-finals six years ago The Frenchman's position has been adapted at PSG and he has scored 18 goals so far in 2025 For Dembele, though, this was his career in a microcosm. Dembele was viewed as a prodigy at Rennes and then Dortmund before moving to Barcelona Joan Laporta said Dembele would be 'better than Mbappe' after signing him for £135.5million Dembele's time at Barcelona is largely remembered for poor finishing and a string of injuries After excelling in France and then Germany, Barcelona paid £135.5million to sign him in 2017 and president Joan Laporta said he will be 'better than Mbappe'. PSG VS LIVERPOOL - FIRST GOALSCORER Ousmane Dembele 11/2 Goncalo Ramos 11/2 Mo Salah 11/2 Khvicha Kvaratskhelia 7/1 Darwin Nunez 15/2 Odds provided by Paddy Power and correct at time of publication One source points to a turning point as his 2021 marriage in Morocco which surprised team-mates because they did not even know he had a girlfriend. Dembele has become the key figure in the PSG team following Mbappe's move to Real Madrid Luis Enrique spent hours working with Dembele on changing his position to be a false No.9 Dembele has now taken on a leader-like role at PSG in a squad filled with young talents His finishing has been transformed since the turn of the year and will post a threat to Liverpool 'We are witnessing a phenomenon,' wrote a Le Parisien columnist on Dembele this week, while Luis Enrique described him as 'like a Playstation footballer'.