Dembele‘s brace shuts down Brest

It was over even before it began. Paris Saint Germain got one of the easiest schedules in the Champions League playoffs and just a few days before their clash with fellow French Brest, they played against them in League 1 and won 5-2. This time, in the first round of playoffs they won comfortably 3-0 and all but secured their qualification into the quarter finals even before the second round in Paris. The Parisians are unbeaten in French football this season and Brest certainly cannot pull any more miracles. The small club from the coast of Bretagne already made wonders when they qualified for the Champions League and then managed to qualify for the playoffs, but this is where their journey stops. They just don‘t have the quality and billions of euros spent in their team like wealthy Parisians, who seem to have finally created a team capable of reaching the final of the Champions League, since they fell short last year (defeated by Borussia in the semi-finals). Tonight PSG was dominant again and instead of Kylian Mbappe, they now have Ousmane Dembele, who was again the star of the show.

The French forward scored two goals, created a situation from which team got the penalty, which means he was involved in all three goals. With so many young, aggressive, hungry and creative players, Brest was helpless from the beginning. 3-0 is an understatement, as in reality it should have been 6-0. The guests missed many clear chances, while the hosts had their opportunities, but they were few and should have been used. Against this PSG, you need to use anything which they give you, like two-three wrong judgements from Donnarumma or a bad pass from Marquinhos, but Brest footballers didn‘t do that, and the Parisians punished them dearly for it. Since Luis Enrique took charge of Paris Saint-Germain, the Parisians have only lost twice to a French club in 67 matches, including this one. Those rare feats were achieved by Nice (3-2) in September 2023 and Toulouse (3-1) in May 2024. Brest has been waiting for a victory against PSG for 40 years. This was their 35th encounter in that period, with PSG securing their 27th win. It seems unlikely that Brest’s unfortunate streak will end on February 19 at the Parc des Princes. PSG can already start preparing for their Champions League clash against either Barcelona or Liverpool (depending on the draw at the end of February). Just imagine the motivation Ousmane Dembélé will have if PSG ends up facing Barcelona.

While PSG had 80% of the ball after only 10 minutes of play, it was Brest who recorded first chance of the match, courtesy of PSG‘s keeper Donnarumma, who missed a clearance but Ajorque was not concentrated and his shot was off target. A mistake number one. PSG‘s revenge came soon. Neves‘ shot was deflected by Marco Bizot, then Ousmane Dembélé took a shot at the goal but Pierre Lees-Melou deflected the ball with his hand... The penalty seems obvious. Brest tried to fight back and Abdallah Sima had two big chances to equalise, first being denied by Willian Pacho's great recovery tackle and then heading against the far post from the resulting corner. Mistake number two and the Parisians punished that again just before halftime. Hakimi fed Dembele, who cut in from the right and beat the goalkeeper at his near post.

Brest then saw Sima hit a post at the start of the second half, mistake number three. Dembele punished them again with a strike almost midway through the second half, trying to feed Bradley Barcola and then seeing the ball break back to him before shooting past Bizot with the aid of a deflection. That was the final nail in Brest‘s coffin.

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - PLAYOFFS

Tuesday

Brest - PSG 0-3 (0-2)

/Vitinha 21(p), Dembele 45,66/

23.00: (1.92) Juventus (3.45) PSV (4.10)

23.00: (2.35) Man.City (3.50) Real Madrid (2.90)

23.00: (2.25) Sporting (3.45) Dortmund (3.15)

Wednesday

20.45: (3.60) Club Brugge (3.40) Atalanta (2.10)

23.00: (7.75) Celtic (4.80) Bayern (1.40)

23.00: (2.95) Feyenoord (3.45) Milan (2.35)

23.00: (2.35) Monaco (3.45) Benfica (2.95)

***odds are subject to change***