For the better part of a calendar year, the Parisians could afford to go without a nominal centre-forward.
Dembele was enough of a focal point to draw defenders out of position, while pressing intensely and notching a career-best goalscoring return.
This season, the other PSG forwards have been too inconsistent to make up for the Frenchman’s absences.
Dembele, who is only just returning to full fitness, came off the bench to assist Bradley Barcola’s late winner against Auxerre.
Until then, Goncalo Ramos had struggled to make a decisive impact – as has often been the case when the Portugal forward starts.
Ramos undoubtedly has the skillset to be the focal point of PSG’s star-studded attack, but struggles to find enough space to involve himself.
To his credit, the former Benfica man does link up well with his team-mates when dropping deeper, but has struggled to score consistently outside of late-game cameos.
While PSG’s recent fast-tracking of academy graduates into the first team has been a success, their rise in playing time has inevitably come with uneven performances as young players find their feet in senior football.
Senny Mayulu, for instance, has filled in at centre-forward, winger, midfielder and right-back to varying degrees of success.
Ibrahim Mbaye, who starred for Senegal at the Africa Cup of Nations as an impact substitute, looked slightly off the pace as he was brought straight back into PSG’s starting XI on Friday.
Warren Zaire-Emery, now in his fourth season in the first team but still only 19, has been a more than serviceable stand-in for Hakimi at full-back.
The Moroccan’s influence in the final third, though, has been difficult for the France international to replicate.
Hakimi’s imminent return to action, having been out with an ankle injury since November, could offer PSG a new attacking dimension – and give Zaire-Emery some much-needed rest.
PSG’s short summer break, with the Super Cup coming exactly a month after the Club World Cup final, may also have contributed to their middling performances this season.
A travel-heavy schedule, which included a midweek trip to Kuwait for the Trophee des Champions earlier this month – when PSG beat Marseille on penalties – will also not have helped a depleted squad.
Luis Enrique, though, has dismissed any suggestion of fatigue as a deciding factor.
“It’s all in the head,” he said before their 2-1 league win over Paris FC at the start of January.
“When we’re winning 5-0, nobody’s tired. When we lose, everybody’s tired. It’s normal.”
