France head coach Didier Deschamps has given his full backing to Ousmane Dembélé for the Ballon d’Or, ahead of his side’s UEFA Nations League semifinal with a Spain side featuring another leading contender for the award, Lamine Yamal.
Dembele was named Champions League player of the season after helping Paris Saint-Germain win the title for the first time with a 5-0 drubbing of Inter Milan.
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Much of the talk since Saturday’s final has been about the Ballon d’Or award, with many seeing the PSG forward as the main rival to Spain and Barcelona’s Yamal.
“Of course I am for Ousmane, since he is French and with the season he is celebrating,” Deschamps told reporters on .
“Obviously, this Nations League can bring some elements of response, the Club World Cup too. If I have to choose, I tell you Ous, 100%, of course.
“If you ask me about the Spaniards, I don’t think they will tell you the same thing. But obviously, Ousmane, with the season he is having, deserves it.”
Despite being involved in the Champions League final at the weekend, Deschamps said he expects to be able to call upon Dembélé along with PSG teammates Warren Zaïre-Emery, Bradley Barcola, Désiré Doué and Lucas Hernández for Thursday’s game.
Marcus Thuram and Benjamin Pavard also played for the losing side, and there has been little time to recover before Thursday’s game in Stuttgart.
“They are here, so I am counting on them,” Deschamps told reporters.
“I found them very happy on Monday evening, of course, with a certain fatigue as well. Then, there were Benjamin and Marcus on the other side. The feelings and emotions were not the same.
“Ideally, when there is a peak like that, of course, you always have to come back down, but now, we need to quickly get back up because the match is close.”
While Kylian Mbappé left PSG for Real Madrid at the end of last season without winning the Champions League, and ended this season without a league title in Spain, he was the top scorer in LaLiga and remains an important part of Deschamps’ plans.
“You know his season as well as I do. He is now in very good shape and with a much better footballing and physical potential,” Deschamps said.
“Nothing changes, Kylian will have a central position.”
Germany and Portugal meet in the other semifinal on Wednesday in Munich, and the final on Sunday will also take place at the Allianz Arena, the scene of PSG’s Champions League triumph.
Information from Reuters was used in this report.
