2018 World Cup winner Ousmane Dembélé burst onto the scene with Rennes back in season 2015-16, and his performance in the 5-2 win away to OM showed all his dazzling skill. A look back at this showing from the phenomenon.
In recent visits to the Orange Vélodrome in Ligue 1 Conforama, Stade Rennais have often delivered fine attacking performances, but the most outstanding was undoubtedly the match in mid-March 2016, a contest in which Ousmane Dembélé (18 years and 10 months old) once again showed the full extent of the talent that took him to Dortmund, Barcelona and the top of the world with France in the 2018 World Cup.
At the time, the Rennes striker was starting to make a name for himself in Ligue 1 Conforama, having just made his senior-team debut in November of 2015. The trip to OM came just a fortnight after Dembélé had bagged a famous hat-trick in the derby against FC Nantes - and saw Rennes looking for revenge after OM had beaten them 1-0 at Roazhon Park earlier in the season.
Dembélé makes his mark
In a match that took off early, with four goals in the first 20 minutes - three of which came from Rennes - Dembélé wasn't about to be left behind. His first goal came on the quarter-hour mark, thanks in no small part to Nicolas Nkoulou's unintended complicity with Mandanda.
In the second half, the young Dembélé cut through the left-hand side of Marseille's defence like a hot knife through butter before cutting it back for Giovanni Sio to round out the scoring in the 5-2 win. The success was thus total for both Rennes and their prodigy.
The beginning
In the space of five games, while Rennes notched 13 points from a possible 15 to get back on the Ligue 1 Conforama podium, Ousmane Dembélé racked up seven goals and three assists! In March 2016, with this show at the Vélodrome, Ligue 1 Conforama saw the promising Ousmane Dembélé take off.
Six short months
As a sign of the player's performance, the Velodrome's public cheered him on his exit. After saying he was "surprised" by such preferential treatment, Dembélé also declared after this 19th match in his career in the championship that he was "only thinking of the France U-21 team" and not Didier Deschamps senior France team. But speed is clearly Dembélé's preference and it was only six short months before the dazzling winger got the call from DD to join Les Bleus.
PS
If Dembélé was too fast for you, here's the slow-mo version!