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Ousmane Dembélé Named Ligue 1 Player of the Year for Second Straight Season
Paris Saint-Germain forward Ousmane Dembélé was voted Ligue 1 player of the year for the second consecutive season on May 11, 2026. The 28-year-old won despite an injury-affected campaign in which he started only nine league matches. Teammate Désiré Doué was named best young player while Lens coach Pierre Sage took best coach honors.
May 11, 7:08 PM·1m read2 sources
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Le MondeAudio version
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Ousmane Dembélé was named Ligue 1 player of the year for the second straight season at the UNFP French football awards ceremony in Paris on May 11, 2026. The 28-year-old becomes only the fifth player to win the award in back-to-back seasons. He succeeded Kylian Mbappé last year, the forward having claimed the prize five times in succession before leaving for Real Madrid.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the previous player to achieve consecutive wins, in 2014. Dembélé collected the trophy even though he has been limited by injury this season. He has started just nine Ligue 1 matches and played 960 minutes, down from 20 starts and 1,736 minutes the previous campaign.
Despite the reduced playing time he has still contributed 10 goals and six assists, compared with 21 goals and eight assists last season.
Dembélé's teammate Désiré Doué was named best young player. Pierre Sage received the best coach award after guiding Lens into position as the closest challenger to PSG in the league standings. PSG effectively secured the Ligue 1 title on Sunday with a 1-0 victory over Brest that left them six points clear of Lens with two matches remaining.
The club also holds a superior goal difference. A result better than defeat against Lens on Wednesday would see PSG officially crowned champions for the fifth season in a row and the 12th time in the last 14 years. The club is also preparing for the Champions League final later this month after advancing past the semi-final stage.
