Ousmane Dembélé was crowned Ligue 1’s best player for the second year running at the UNFP awards in Paris on Monday, a feat that underscores his enduring influence despite a season disrupted by injury. The French forward, who claimed the Ballon d’Or after a resplendent 2024-25 campaign, started only nine league matches this term yet still managed ten goals and six assists. Viewed from Paris, his peers’ vote confirms that even a diminished Dembélé remains the division’s most feared attacker, though analysts in London note that his intermittent availability raises questions ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s Champions League final against Arsenal in Budapest on 30 May.

That European showpiece now dominates PSG’s calculations, with the club’s medical staff racing to restore key personnel. Achraf Hakimi, the Morocco captain and a fixture in the UNFP team of the season, resumed individual training this week after an unspecified layoff, though Willian Pacho, Nuno Mendes and Warren Zaïre-Emery remain in treatment. The defensive absences are a pressing concern for a side that shipped three goals in the semi-final second leg; from Rabat, there is cautious optimism that Hakimi’s return will stabilise the right flank, yet the broader injury list leaves coach Luis Enrique with little margin for error.

Beyond Dembélé’s headline, the awards ceremony highlighted PSG’s domestic dominance and a rare individual double. Teenager Désiré Doué collected the best young player trophy for the second consecutive season, joining Eden Hazard and Kylian Mbappé as the only players to achieve that milestone. Meanwhile, Lens manager Pierre Sage was recognised as coach of the year after steering his side into a title challenge and a Coupe de France final, a feat that, viewed from northern France, rewards a project built on tactical discipline rather than lavish spending. Elsewhere, Michael Olise – now at Bayern Munich – won the prize for the best French player abroad, his 22 goals and 30 assists this season making him a certainty for Didier Deschamps’ World Cup squad this summer.

The narrative now shifts to Budapest, where PSG will seek to crown a season that, for all its domestic acclaim, will be judged on a single European night. Dembélé’s patchy fitness, the lingering defensive doubts, and the looming presence of Arsenal’s disciplined unit all suggest a contest far closer than Parisian confidence might imply. What is clear, however, is that the French capital’s club has built the deepest squad in the league – six players in the UNFP team of the season attest to that – and will travel to Hungary believing that its star quality can eclipse any structural frailty.