Paris Saint-Germain head coach Luis Enrique has on Monday provided an insight into his decision to leave Ousmane Dembélé out of his latest matchday squad.
For those who may have missed it, the name of wide-man Dembélé has dominated the headlines in France’s capital across the day to date. This comes after the former Barcelona man was a shock omission from PSG’s latest Champions League squad.
The Ligue 1 champions are primed to return to action on the continent on Tuesday night, when they will make the trip to London for a daunting matchday 2 meeting with Premier League heavyweights Arsenal.
On Monday afternoon, PSG’s travelling squad bound for England, in turn, was unveiled online. And, as alluded to above, attacker Dembélé was nowhere to be seen. The 27-year-old has enjoyed a fine start to the new campaign, notching four goals and three assists across his first six Ligue 1 appearances. His complete omission to face Arsenal therefore marked nothing short of a shock.
Speaking to the media in his pre-Gunners press conference, Luis Enrique was therefore drawn on the call not to include Dembélé in his latest squad. And the Spanish tactician went on to point towards ‘an issue with respect to his obligations towards the team’ as being behind his decision:
“I won’t make a saga out of it… there was simply an issue with respect to his obligations towards the team. I want the best for the team and I left him out. There was no fight between me and Dembélé.
“It looks like we never lost a game with Dembélé? No, we lost against Newcastle, Milan, Borussia Dortmund and Barça at home. If someone doesn’t comply with team rules, it means he’s not ready for a key week like this one.”
PSG will make the trip to The Emirates with sights set on a 2nd win in two to open the club’s Champions League campaign, after putting La Liga outfit Girona to the sword by a goal to nil on opening day.
