Ahead of Paris Saint-Germain’s first trip abroad of what would be a marathon, globe-trotting season, Ousmane Dembele was told to stay at home.
The instruction came as a shock, the explanation from the coach who had dropped him sounded a little opaque. “If an individual doesn’t comply with the team’s needs, it means they are not ready to play,” said Luis Enrique.
There was some comfort. “The situation,” he added, “is not irreversible and I’m not going to make a drama out of it.”
But a drama, Luis Enrique knew, would inevitably ensue, at least within parts of the broader PSG entourage and especially in some branches of the media who follow the club.
Not least because the game Dembele had been excluded from - after a disagreement with his coach the previous weekend and a reported late arrival to training - was at Arsenal in the Uefa Champions League, and PSG lost it 2-0.
There were two ways the relationship between coach and player, between player and club, between Dembele and PSG supporters, might have gone from here.
There might have been a season ahead like one of those that characterised the timeline of the younger Dembele, the beguilingly skillful winger who had commanded a fee in excess of €100 million to join Barcelona at the age of 20 footballer but who, by the age of 24 had appeared in well under half the club’s matches.
At Barca, he was often injured, and, rightly or wrongly, scrutiny in that phase of his career used to focus on his time-keeping, his self-discipline. When he did play he could be dazzling, but he was very often exasperating, his finishing erratic.
He might, having been dropped by Luis Enrique for PSG’s first taxing game outside France in the 2024-25, have played out a similar role to those he assumed in his early Barcelona years, of a shy young man overshadowed by a famous predecessor.
When Dembele joined Barca in 2017, he did so under the huge pressure of both that weighty transfer fee and with the obligation of fitting into a team Neymar had just left. The burden of succession then seemed too heavy.
There were hefty new responsibilities back in September, too. PSG and Luis Enrique were still working out a formula for success for their post-Kylian Mbappe era.
Mbappe had departed from Paris after seven years making himself the go-to striker, the figurehead of the club. In his absence, Dembele, a fellow France international, was designated as the man to lead the PSG attack. Following Mbappe, like replacing Neymar at Camp Nou, meant big boots to fill.
The other route out of what Luis Enrique had described as “a difficult decision”, excluding Dembele for the visit to Arsenal, was the upward one.
Happily, that has been Dembele's trajectory, one that might very well reach a stunning peak on Sunday on the edge of New York City when PSG meet Chelsea in the final of the new, enlarged Club World Cup. They do so as firm favourites to complete a clean sweep of trophies this season.
On that journey, Dembele has been the lodestar, the attacking guide and leading scorer through a campaign of unprecedented success for the club. Should PSG add the title of world club champions to those of European and French champions, it would be very hard to look beyond Dembele as outstanding candidate to collect this year’s Ballon d’Or.
On Wednesday against Real Madrid he struck his 35th goal of the club season and provided his 16th assist.
That’s in 52 appearances, several of them statement games like the 4-0 rout of Madrid in the Club World Cup semi-final, where Dembele had hassled Madrid’s Raul Asencio into one panicky mistake and Antonio Rudiger into another to put PSG 2-0 up within the opening 10 minutes.
Symptoms there of how the quick, alert Dembele alarms the most gnarled - Rudiger - and the most bumptious - Asencio - of elite defenders.
He’s cultivated that aura through an astonishing 2025 and several high-class contests. Dembele was key to PSG’s statement victories against Manchester City, Liverpool and Aston Villa on the road to their Uefa Champions League victory.
In the Champions League semi-final against Arsenal, it was Dembele’s finish in London that swung the tie in PSG’s favour, his goal the climax of a 26-pass PSG move in which his movement, dropping deep from the middle of the forward line, darting upfield to stretch the opposition, was a crucial dynamic.
Here, at Arsenal, where he had been left out at the beginning of the season with Luis Enrique pointedly referring to “a problem with the player’s responsibility to the team”, was Dembele at the heart and centre of a wonderful team goal.
Two assists in the record-breaking 5-0 demolition of Inter Milan in the Champions League final would follow and although Dembele, nursing minor injuries, missed out on the group stage at the Club World Cup, he has been vital in the business end of the tournament.
He was on the scoresheet against Bayern Munich in the quarter-final, silencing Madrid with the semi barely kicked-off.
“His team-mates look for him, and they find him,” noted Luis Enrique, describing how Dembele has grown into his leading role since their falling out in September, “and he’s at a very high level of performance, so that’s perfect for everyone.”
He has developed into a more rounded, all-purpose footballer, too. “We all knew Ousmane as a winger,” Luis Enrique said. “Now you see he can start out wide or more centrally. That’s a positive thing. His ability to move inside the box has been surprising — something more typical of a centre-forward.”
Plenty, then, for Chelsea to ponder, and, having analysed the nervousness of Madrid, and the helplessness of Inter in PSG’s last big final, to fear.
“We’re a dominant team most of the time,” purred Luis Enrique after the rout of Real, “and that makes things hard for our opponents. It’s up to the players now to capitalise on that and keep on making this a great season.”
RESULT
Uruguay 3 Russia 0
Uruguay: Suárez (10'), Cheryshev (23' og), Cavani (90')
Russia: Smolnikov (Red card: 36')
Man of the match: Diego Godin (Uruguay)
The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Tips to stay safe during hot weather
- Stay hydrated: Drink plenty of fluids, especially water. Avoid alcohol and caffeine, which can increase dehydration.
- Seek cool environments: Use air conditioning, fans, or visit community spaces with climate control.
- Limit outdoor activities: Avoid strenuous activity during peak heat. If outside, seek shade and wear a wide-brimmed hat.
- Dress appropriately: Wear lightweight, loose and light-coloured clothing to facilitate heat loss.
- Check on vulnerable people: Regularly check in on elderly neighbours, young children and those with health conditions.
- Home adaptations: Use blinds or curtains to block sunlight, avoid using ovens or stoves, and ventilate living spaces during cooler hours.
- Recognise heat illness: Learn the signs of heat exhaustion and heat stroke (dizziness, confusion, rapid pulse, nausea), and seek medical attention if symptoms occur.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
What is safeguarding?
“Safeguarding, not just in sport, but in all walks of life, is making sure that policies are put in place that make sure your child is safe; when they attend a football club, a tennis club, that there are welfare officers at clubs who are qualified to a standard to make sure your child is safe in that environment,” Derek Bell explains.
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
What can you do?
Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses
Seek professional advice from a legal expert
You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor
You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline
In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support
Lowest Test scores
26 - New Zealand v England at Auckland, March 1955
30 - South Africa v England at Port Elizabeth, Feb 1896
30 - South Africa v England at Birmingham, June 1924
35 - South Africa v England at Cape Town, April 1899
36 - South Africa v Australia at Melbourne, Feb. 1932
36 - Australia v England at Birmingham, May 1902
36 - India v Australia at Adelaide, Dec. 2020
38 - Ireland v England at Lord's, July 2019
42 - New Zealand v Australia in Wellington, March 1946
42 - Australia v England in Sydney, Feb. 1888
COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
LA LIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Real Sociedad v Leganes (midnight)
Saturday
Alaves v Real Valladolid (4pm)
Valencia v Granada (7pm)
Eibar v Real Madrid (9.30pm)
Barcelona v Celta Vigo (midnight)
Sunday
Real Mallorca v Villarreal (3pm)
Athletic Bilbao v Levante (5pm)
Atletico Madrid v Espanyol (7pm)
Getafe v Osasuna (9.30pm)
Real Betis v Sevilla (midnight)
Tips for newlyweds to better manage finances
All couples are unique and have to create a financial blueprint that is most suitable for their relationship, says Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial. He offers his top five tips for couples to better manage their finances.
Discuss your assets and debts: When married, it’s important to understand each other’s personal financial situation. It’s necessary to know upfront what each party brings to the table, as debts and assets affect spending habits and joint loan qualifications. Discussing all aspects of their finances as a couple prevents anyone from being blindsided later.
Decide on the financial/saving goals: Spouses should independently list their top goals and share their lists with one another to shape a joint plan. Writing down clear goals will help them determine how much to save each month, how much to put aside for short-term goals, and how they will reach their long-term financial goals.
Set a budget: A budget can keep the couple be mindful of their income and expenses. With a monthly budget, couples will know exactly how much they can spend in a category each month, how much they have to work with and what spending areas need to be evaluated.
Decide who manages what: When it comes to handling finances, it’s a good idea to decide who manages what. For example, one person might take on the day-to-day bills, while the other tackles long-term investments and retirement plans.
Money date nights: Talking about money should be a healthy, ongoing conversation and couples should not wait for something to go wrong. They should set time aside every month to talk about future financial decisions and see the progress they’ve made together towards accomplishing their goals.
More from Rashmee Roshan Lall
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