Why Malian Descent Ousmane Dembele Left Spanish Club Barcelona After 6 Seasons

• Ousmane Dembele seemed to have plotted Barcelona's exit from the UEFA Champions League
• The Frenchman spent six seasons with the Catalan giants, winning three La Liga titles as well
• Barcelona fans were furious at the forward, who inspired PSG to a comeback win in Catalonia

Barcelona have exited this season's UEFA Champions League after a defeat at the hands of PSG was masterminded by Ousmane Dembele.

The Frenchman produced a man-of-the-match performance in the quarter-final second-leg to lead the French club into the last four.

Dembele returned to Catalonia amid hostilities from the fans, who went as far as burning his shirt just before the start of the UCL match.

The 26-year-old responded on the pitch, masterminding PSG's comeback by scoring an equaliser and winning a penalty in their 4-1 away win at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys.

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The Parisians eventually went through to the semi-finals 6-4 on aggregate, and the man leading this win was Dembele.

The home fans were furious after the Frenchman led PSG's celebrations inside the current home of his former team.

Why Dembele celebrated against Barcelona

The winger scored in the 41st minute making it 1-1 and rather than remaining quiet and moving the ball to the middle of the pitch to resume play, he went on to celebrate.

Dembele was later seen laughing at Barcelona's demise as PSG thrashed them 4-1 to knock them out of the Champions League.

He had broken the unwritten rule of celebrating against a former club, but it is believed his gesture was a response to the fans who booed him all through the game.

The 18.com reports that the former Borussia Dortmund star had a wry smile on his face after PSG were awarded a penalty kick, which Kylian Mbappe converted.

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Why did Dembele leave Barcelona?

In six seasons, Dembele made a total of 185 appearances with Barcelona, scoring 40 goals and registering several assists.

The World Cup winner left the Catalan club last summer in a €50 million (£43mil/$55mil) transfer to PSG, with the reasons for his move later explained.

Spanish outlet, Sport, reported that contract problems forced the forward out of the Spanish side.

He eventually extended his deal with Barcelona in 2022, but the saga dragged on for several months and he was dropped from the squad multiple times.

When Deco arrived as the club's sporting director, the club began to seemingly nudge Dembele toward an exit.

The situation became worse when the Frenchman reportedly failed to attend contract extension meetings in 2023 before he left during the summer.

He won three La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey trophies, and two Supercopa de Espana titles before leaving the club.

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Hakimi reacts to PSG's comeback win

Sports Brief earlier reported that Morocco defender, Achraf Hakimi, expressed delight after PSG won in their UCL quarter-final second-leg tie against Barcelona.

The Atlas Lions star missed the first leg at Parc des Princes in Paris, where his side lost out 3-2, before returning to the starting XI for the decisive away leg in Spain.