'I'm very emotional and passionate'- Jorge Sampaoli explains why he said Ousmane Dembele 'plays like an autistic' in bizarre rant at France and PSG star

Sampaoli apologised last summer after claiming that Dembele "plays like an autistic" at Euro 2024. The former Argentina boss claimed that Dembele "only has the ability to make himself shine" but, at the time, he appeared to realise he had made an unacceptable comment.

Now, though, Sampaoli has re-litigated the issue, claiming that he expressed himself badly, but he has again claimed Dembele is too selfish. In a rather confusing explanation, the manager has also claimed the Paris Saint-Germain star is capable of being one of the best players in the world.

Sampaoli said to Sport: "I was very bad at expressing myself. I'm very emotional and passionate, and all I wanted to say was that Dembele isn't an association player. He looks at his opponents and the goal much more than his team-mates. For me, he's one of the best in the world, but in a context like Barca's, where association is necessary, he isolates himself and doesn't perform as well. He plays his game, he does it very well, but I attach a lot of importance to authority and association football."

PSG face Arsenal in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final on Wednesday. Dembele scored the only goal in the first leg, giving the French side a 1-0 lead for the second leg at Parc des Princes.