Paris Saint-Germain attacker Ousmane Dembélé was voted Champions League player of the season by UEFA on Sunday, along with seven other members of the title-winning club.
PSG won the trophy for the first time by hammering Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich on Saturday.
Dembele, who scored eight goals in the competition, did not score in the final, but he assisted twice, and the UEFA Technical Observer Group praised his entire performance.
“Dembele has taken on the role of a leader in the Paris Saint-Germain team, as we saw in the final with how he worked so hard, pressing from the front,” explained the committee.
“He created doubts for their opponents match after match with his clever movement, dropping deep to give his team superiority in the midfield.”
PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and defenders Achraf Hakimi, Marquinhos, and Nuno Mendes were all named to the starting lineup, as were midfielder Vitinha and teenage striker Desire Doue, who scored twice and set up another in Saturday’s annihilation.
The team included four non-PSG players: Inter defender Alessandro Bastoni, Arsenal midfielder Declan Rice, Raphinha, the season’s joint top scorer, and Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.
“We’ve made this selection of players, particularly in the attack, to reflect the exceptional mobility which was such a feature of the victorious Paris Saint-Germain team’s approach,” said the UEFA report.
“The forward line selected represents this – a flexible team with attacking players who can interchange positions.”
Doué, who was not a frequent starter as PSG struggled in the competition’s group stage, narrowly defeated 17-year-old Yamal for the competition’s young player title.
“Doué has been a revelation this season,” said UEFA. “He made an incredible breakthrough in the knockout phase, going to the final and producing a Player of the Match performance on Saturday night, becoming the first teenager to score twice in a final.”
Dembele’s achievement could influence the voting for the Ballon d’Or, the annual global player of the year award, which will be handed out on September 22.
“I’d give the Ballon d’Or to Ousmane Dembélé, simply for the way he defends,” stated PSG’s Spanish coach following Saturday’s triumph.
Yamal, Raphinha, and Donnarumma are among the other contenders for the honour.
