PSG’s Desire Doue takes big step forward ahead of crucial Champions League and Ligue 1 battles

PARIS – It’s taken a while, but one of Paris Saint-Germain’s big summer signings is underway after a much-needed week of positivity against Red Bull Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday continued against Olympique Lyonnais in Ligue 1 on Sunday. . Desire Doue has not enjoyed an easy start in the French capital since his arrival from Stade Rennais in August, but the 19-year-old finally began to find his feet last week with three key goal contributions to boost his confidence. .

Having starred for Les Bleus at home in the 2024 Olympics and moving to the Parc des Princes on the back of that momentum, a single assist in the 3-1 win against Lille OSC was all the talent born in Angers had to show. for his time in Paris until now. Doue began the week as a substitute in the must-win UCL clash against Salzburg, where he came on for the final 24 minutes or so and set up Nuno Mendes to make it 2-0 before completing the scoring at 3-0 after being assisted by Achraf Hakimi.

After that positive performance, Luis Enrique inserted the Frenchman into his starting eleven at home against Lyon in Sunday’s big Championnat box office match, in which he needed just eight minutes for Ousmane Dembélé to open the scoring. Denied what could have been a sumptuous finish into the top corner in the second half by an offside flag, Doue is finally heading to Paris four months after his big move, when Bayern Munich had also been suitors in the summer.

“I wouldn’t say it was my night, but mainly the team’s night,” he said postgame after being named man of the match. “We continued in very good form. We managed to win the last match in the Champions League, which was very important. We were able to create many opportunities but we also defended well, even if we conceded a goal. We pressed.” Very good and we followed the tactic that the boss proposed to us. We put pressure on them well and made the game difficult for ourselves.”

Luis Enrique made some big personnel calls ahead of OL’s visit, including Randal Kolo Muani, Milan Skriniar and Presnel Kimpembe being left out completely and Doue was one of the players who benefited the most from Kolo Muani’s omission. Even more surprising was that Gonçalo Ramos and former Lyon star Bradley Barcola were left on the bench, giving the former Rennes player the chance to show the home Les Parisiens fans a taste of what he is capable of. when the opportunity presents itself.

Now that this has been done, there is a real discussion about how PSG will line up in the future with Dembélé, Barcola, Ramos and now Doue, capable of mustering much more in front of goal than the French giants have shown in almost all. the season so far. . With AS Monaco visiting the Stade Louis II this week ahead of a French Cup test clash at RC Lens, this is a challenging period for Luis Enrique, but Doue offers him one more solution that didn’t even seem to be the case. Just a week ago.

A goal and a few assists are unlikely to give PSG No. 14 an automatic starting spot, but they do put them in the mix for further involvement heading into a critical series of games beyond Monaco and Lens in the coming week. The Monegasques (again) in the Champions Trophy in Qatar, AS Saint-Etienne in Paris and the RCL away from home again appear before a massive visit in the Champions League of the struggling Manchester City in a streak that could reach to define this campaign in the capital.

Doue didn’t seem likely to play a big part in that until last week, but now he’s really part of the discussion and it’s now up to him to increase that even further by maintaining his current form this winter. Considering the outlay PSG committed to bring him in just a few months ago, it’s about time Luis Enrique started turning a profit at a time when the Spaniard faces criticism for rarely looking at Kolo Muani despite his high price tag. . label.