Back in 2018, roughly a year after moving from Borussia Dortmund to Barcelona, Ousmane Dembele made the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Spanish media reported that the winger, who had cost a staggering €148million, needed dragging out of bed in order to attend training.
AS claimed that, to make matters worse, figures at Barcelona were fearful that Dembele had a 'gaming disorder'.
He had, apparently, been up until the early hours of the morning playing on his PlayStation with friends online. Not for the first time, either. When it came to attending training, he simply couldn't wake from his slumber - which is why club staff were sent round to get him.
Ousmane Dembele was the star of the show as PSG beat Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday night
REUTERS
Dembele has always been a curious case. A player blessed with talent in abudance, his attitude has always been called into question.
Certainly, his time at Barcelona failed to live up to expectations. Signed as the heir to Neymar's throne, he never really got going in Catalonia - even when playing alongside GOATs of the game including Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
But Dembele's troubled days are a thing of the past now. He is arguably the best player on the planet in current form and now central to PSG's hopes of tasting Champions League glory for the first time.
Last night, at Anfield, the 27-year-old was nothing short of electrifying.
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Liverpool rarely lose European games of such magnitude on home soil. Anfield is a fortress under Arne Slot, just as it was under Jurgen Klopp before him.
Yet Dembele's brilliance paved the way for PSG to do the unthinkable by sending the European giants crashing out of the competition.
His goal in the 12th minute levelled the tie, just days after Harvey Elliot's late strike had given Liverpool a crucial lead.
And had it not been for Alisson Becker, Dembele could have had even more goals last night.
PSG star Ousmane Dembele never really got going at Barcelona despite playing alongside Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez
GETTY
As a young man, he made plenty of mistakes. He knows he was never a success at Barcelona, despite the money they paid for him.
But Dembele is now the real deal and, with the winger firing on all cylinders, vital to his side's hopes of going all the way.
It has taken years for PSG to get to a stage when they look like a team capable of dominating Europe for many years to come.
Despite having Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Edinson Cavani for most of the 2010s, they never really came close to landing the trophy they craved above all.
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Neymar and Kylian Mbappe were recruited from Barcelona and Monaco respectively in 2017 with European success in mind.
Yet the closest they ever came was reaching the final in 2020, which Bayern Munich deservedly won 1-0 following a goal from PSG old boy Kingsley Coman.
Even when they recruited Messi, things didn't quite click.
But PSG are a team transformed these days. With wingers such as Dembele and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia in their ranks, with Vitinha and Joao Neves pulling the strings behind, they finally look like a side that can go all the way.
Ousmane Dembele celebrates his goal for PSG against Liverpool in the Champions League
REUTERS
The French titans will face either Aston Villa or Club Brugge in the next round.
It looks like it'll be Villa given Unai Emery's side lead 3-1 from the first leg following a terrific performance in Belgium last week.
