Despite the loss of Ousmane Dembélé to injury, PSG managed to defeat Monaco on Tuesday in the first leg of the Champions League play-off. And this in particular thanks to Désiré Doué, who helped turn the match around.

Published on: 02/17/2026 - 11:17 p.m. Modified on: 02/18/2026 - 10:55 a.m.

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Totally dominated in the first 20 minutes by Monaco, PSG and Désiré Doué woke up on Tuesday February 17 to overthrow the Monegasques in the first leg of the Champions League play-off (3-2), showing their face as European champions.

This match perfectly summed up the Parisians' current season: some bad, some very good and the loss of Ousmane Dembélé to injury, injured in the left calf, as already last November. First behind in all sectors and in particular defensively, Luis Enrique's players conceded two goals too easily and very early in the match.

The Monegasques first took advantage of a poor cross from Nuno Mendes to launch an offensive and find the head of Folarin Balogun, strangely left alone in the area (1-0, 1st). The attacker then combined perfectly with Akliouche and Golovine to score a double (2-0, 18th), again taking advantage of the generosity and slowness of the Parisian defense.

Dembélé exit

But Paris, whose nightmarish start to the match continued with the exit of Dembélé (25th), after a calf injury on Monday in training, finally re-mobilized and showed all its talent and character, those of last spring. So very poorly engaged in this double confrontation before the return on Wednesday February 25, the Parisians changed everything to show their face as European champions.

Despite a penalty from Vitinha stopped by Philipp Köhn (22nd), they started to play together again, to press and combine collectively, and as a bonus found an efficiency that they often lack. Désiré Doué, who replaced Ousmane Dembélé, is the first to have shown all his talent, carrying PSG offensively as he did during the Champions League final, but too little since. Lacking confidence, he also showed character.

On one of his first balls and intelligently found by Bradley Barcola, he drew a cross shot (2-1, 29th). The former Rennes man was also fully involved in the second goal (2-2, 41st), with an overflow on the left side before hitting hard on Köhn, who pushed back on Achraf Hakimi, well placed and lucid in a complicated angle.

Doué allows PSG to turn the match around

And it was again Doué who allowed PSG to completely turn the match around thanks to a well-placed shot into the side net (3-2, 67th). Inconsistent for several weeks, Désiré Doué waited for this big meeting to sign his first benchmark match of the season, at the best of times for PSG, who lost their Ballon d'Or.

Opposite, Monaco - which has been better for several weeks - was not helped by the expulsion of Alexandre Golovine, just after returning to the locker room (48th), because of a dangerous and too rough sole on Vitinha. But the Mongéasques were also weighed down by sometimes surprising refereeing decisions, such as a handball from Marquinhos in the area (70th) which was not whistled.

Irregular this season and already counting three defeats in 2026 (six this season), the Parisians therefore recovered during the match and after the logical and worrying defeat in Rennes last Friday (3-1).

The Parisians will have to continue this time next week, producing the same game as during these 70 minutes in Monaco, an opponent who beat them (1-0) in November in Ligue 1. While Paris had fully launched its European season last year during the play-offs against Brest (3-0 first leg, 7-0 return), they have the opportunity to do so next week, becoming ruthless and fearsomely effective again. And more up and down as is the case in 2026.

With AFP

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