‘He deserves to win everything’ – Luis Enrique praises Dembele after Real Madrid thrashing

Manager Luis Enrique hailed Ousmane Dembele as the “best player this season” and said “he deserves to win everything” after Paris Saint-Germain reached the Club World Cup final after a devastating 4-0 victory over Real Madrid.

Dembele found the net on his first start in the inaugural expanded competition, while Fabian Ruiz scored a brace and Goncalo Ramos got on the scoresheet late on as the European champions ran riot in scorching conditions at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey.

PSG will meet Conference League winners Chelsea in Sunday’s final and will go into the game hot favourites to lift the trophy.

What a team! 😮‍💨#PSGREAL 4-0 pic.twitter.com/Ykcv7oSHxA

— Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_English) July 9, 2025

And a jubilant Enrique said he would like to see his star player – and Ballon d’Or candidate – pick up every award and accolade after a 35-goal season this term.

“I think he [Dembele] is the best player this season by a long way,” Enrique told DAZN.

“He deserves to win everything because he gave everything to the team and the team is going to achieve trophies which is the most important thing for the cub.”

While the PSG boss expressed his displeasure at playing in what he believes is far from ideal conditions, he could not hide his jubilation at full time.

“I feel great,” said Enrique It’s always difficult to play these kind of matches against Real Madrid. I think we started the game very well and we are happy with the performance,.

“It’s too much heat for me. You need to play in different conditions to watch a better show but I think both teams did it great and we are in a special season at the moment and I think we deserve to win.”

Ahead of the showdown with Chelsea at the same venue this weekend, Enrique added: “We are going to try [and win]. It’s one more step against a good team like Chelsea.

“They have performed well the whole competition and now it is time for us to prepare, recover and we want to make history.”

THE FINAL IS SET 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🆚️🇫🇷

It’s @ChelseaFC 🆚 @PSG_inside to crown the @FIFACWC champions 🏆

Watch the @FIFACWC | June 14 – July 13 | Every Game | Free | https://t.co/i0K4eUu4lJ | #FIFACWC #TakeItToTheWorld pic.twitter.com/yEddwfzrzb

— DAZN Football (@DAZNFootball) July 9, 2025

Meanwhile, a downbeat Xabi Alonso insisted his side are at the start of their journey but said his players need to learn lessons from the defeat.

“At the moment, the feeling is not the best, but we have to try and learn from today,” said the Real boss.

“They [PSG] have already been building for two years and we are just starting so it will take time but we will have to learn.

“We need a proper break. This is not the beginning of next year, this is the end of this season. Today we have faced one of the best teams in the world.”

The former Los Blancos midfielder also paid tribute to the departing Luka Modric, who played his final minutes in a Real shirt after 13 years at the club and will join AC Milan this summer.

“It’s a bitter end but he has been a legend of the club. A legend of football,” Alonso said of the 39-year-old.

“He is going to remembered forever in Madrid.”

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