Dembélé, Doué: Their season from start to finish
Named the Champions League's Best Player and Best Young Player respectively, Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué have enjoyed impressive seasons with the European champions.
Saturday's crowning of a historic European campaign against Inter Milan was the ultimate reward for a supreme team effort. But two players in particular, Ousmane Dembélé and Désiré Doué, have stood out to earn themselves a special place in fans' hearts.
Ousmane Dembélé, AMBITION AND PERFORMANCE
Dembélé's displays will live long in the memory. Instrumental in the crucial win over Manchester City (Matchday 7, 4-2) he then claimed a hat-trick against Stuttgart (8e journée, 1-4) before moving up a gear in the knockout stage. He scored twice against Brest (1st leg: 0-3) before really coming to the fore against Liverpool.
In the white-hot atmosphere of Anfield and with his team 1-0 down from the first leg, he got the all-important goal that would take the tie to penalties. After scoring from the spot himself, he watched on as Désiré Doué then took the Rouge-et-Bleu through.
Ousmane then provided two assists for Nuno Mendes to help propel Paris into the last four.
There, Arsenal awaited, but despite the pressure and the challenge, the Parisian forward took just four minutes to make the breakthrough and give his team a crucial advantage. Coming off the bench in the second leg, he had a hand in another goal as he pushed his side to Munich. Two assists followed in the final - for Doué and Kvicha Kvaratskhelia - as Paris scaled the summit of European football.
Désiré Doué: A METEORIC RISE
At just 19 and in his first Champions League season, Doué showed maturity well beyond his years and experience. Whether coming off the bench like against Salzburg (1 goal & 1 assist in 24 minutes) and Stade Brestois (1 goal & 1 assist in 30 minutes), or in the starting line-up, he was the undoubted revelation of the European campaign.
He served notice of his talent in the league phase, but - like his teammates - he was even more impressive in the knockout stage. He was nerveless as he rattled in the decisive penalty at Anfield, and also scored in the quarter-final first-leg win against Aston Villa (3-1).
In the final, two goals and assist announced to the world what every Paris fan knew already: Doué was born to shine. (5-0). On Saturday, the France international became the first player under the age of 20 to have three goal involvements in a Champions League final. Named Player of the Match, he is already part of the club's legend.
In total, Paris scored 38 in European competition, a club record, and a sign of the work, effort and talent of Luis Enrique's men in a season like no other.
