The total minutes every PSG star has missed in Ligue 1 since 2025/26 seems unbelievable after Ousmane Dembele’s comments.
Paris Saint-Germain’s squad rotation is making headlines again after superstar forward Ousmane Dembele’s recent comments following their big Champions League win over Manchester City.
Dembele joked about how many breaks he gets, saying he loves playing in the Champions League after a weekend off in Ligue 1.
PSG have been dominating Ligue 1 for years, winning 12 of the last 14 titles, including the last five in a row. Since bringing in coach Luis Enrique, they’ve changed their transfer strategy, which has helped them stay on top at home while focusing more on European competition during most of the season.
PSG have really made the most of prioritizing the Champions League, winning it back-to-back in 2025 and 2026 after chasing the trophy for so long. They beat Inter Milan easily in the 2024-25 final, then came back strong in 2025-26 to win again, this time beating Arsenal on penalties in the final.
Their recent 4-2 win at Manchester City shows they aren’t slowing down. After taking it easy in the league games the last two seasons, PSG is already leading after two matches this season.
Dembele scored the second goal in that Manchester game and shared some lighthearted thoughts with the French media afterward. “After the international break, I went on holiday,” he told CANAL+. “Honestly, I might ask for more time off… I really enjoy playing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, especially when I come back from a break!”
The 2025 Ballon d’Or winner then had a funny moment, trying to guess PSG’s next Ligue 1 opponent for Strasbourg’s manager Hugo Oliveira—he guessed Le Havre, but got it wrong.
Looking at this season, Luis Enrique is still using his key players mainly for the Champions League, treating Ligue 1 as a chance to give squad players more time. Last season, Dembele and captain Marquinhos each started only 11 league games and spent almost twice as much time on the bench. Other important players like Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, Desire Doue, and Achraf Hakimi also missed more minutes than they played, though only Dembele and Mendes are in that situation after the first six games this season.
Among PSG’s top stars, Vitinha played the most last season, starting 24 games and clocking 2,119 minutes. He’s been a regular this year too, playing the full 90 in five out of six league matches.
Altogether, out of a possible 3,600 minutes over this season and last, PSG’s best players have shared their playing time like this: