Paris shine at the Roudourou and take home the first leg against Brest!

A few days after their superb victory at the Parc des Princes against Monaco (4-1), Paris Saint-Germain returned to action with a trip to Guingamp. On the agenda for the Rouge et Bleu: the first leg of the Champions League play-off round against Stade Brestois 29.

For this French-flavoured European clash, Luis Enrique fielded a central defensive pairing of captain Marquinhos and Willian Pacho, with Gianluigi Donnarumma in between the sticks. Nuno Mendes occupied the left flank, while Achraf Hakimi started on the right. In midfield, Vitinha was supported by João Neves and Fabian Ruiz, while Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué joined Ousmane Dembélé in attack.

From the opening minutes, Les Parisiens took control of possession and dictated their style of play. However, the Bretons, true to their strengths, remained alert to any counter-attacking opportunities. Brest thrive on space and also apply high-intensity pressing to force errors, as seen with Ludovic Ajorque, who disrupted Paris' build-up and created the first chance of the game (12’). That was all it took to spark the Rouge et Bleu into action. They quickly launched an assault on the hosts' goal and earned a penalty after João Neves' shot struck a hand in the box. Vitinha stepped up with composure, sending Marco Bizot the wrong way to give the club from the capital the lead (0-1, 20’).

Trailing, the Ty-Zefs had no choice but to push higher up the pitch in an attempt to unsettle the Parisian defense. Abdallah Sima understood the task at hand, using his speed to break into the box and forcing Willian Pacho—initially beaten—to make a brilliant recovery tackle (34’). But the Senegalese forward was undeterred, and from the resulting corner, he rose to meet the cross with a powerful header that crashed against Gianluigi Donnarumma’s post (35’).

The match turned into an intense back-and-forth battle. Paris nearly doubled their lead when Bradley Barcola pounced from ten meters out to meet a cross from an electrifying Désiré Doué on the right flank (38’). Moments later, Mahdi Camara responded for Brest, forcing Achraf Hakimi into a risky intervention to clear the danger (39’). It was to be the club from the capital that would have the final word at the end of an intense first half, which came to a close with a goal for Ousmane Dembélé, who perfectly found the back of the net with a left-footed strike (0-2, 45').

The second half resumed with the same intensity, as both teams hunted for the third goal of the match—a potentially decisive one. Brest first tried their luck, with Sima once again testing Donnarumma, but the Italian goalkeeper, with the help of his post, made a crucial save to deny the equaliser (48’). Paris quickly responded: Dembélé sent Barcola through on goal, who then squared the ball perfectly for Désiré Doué to finish into an empty net. However, the club from the capital's celebrations were cut short as Barcola was flagged offside at the start of the move (50’).

Paris continued to pile on the pressure, with Marco Bizot breathing a sigh of relief as Ousmane Dembélé’s shot narrowly missed the post (58’). Moments later, the Dutch goalkeeper was forced into action again to deny Bradley Barcola, who once more made the difference on the left flank (62’). Unstoppable, Paris' number 29 was at the heart of every attacking move. Once again, he combined with Dembélé, who capped off the attack with a precise low strike to secure his brace (0-3, 66’)! This Paris side was simply irresistible—sharp in attack and rock-solid at the back, with Donnarumma making a key save to deny Camara (68’) and captain Marquinhos delivering a commanding performance in his 100th Champions League appearance for the club.

The Parisians managed to keep a clean sheet until the final whistle, despite Brest’s desperate attempts to score a consolation goal for their home fans. Clinical at both ends of the pitch, Paris Saint-Germain claimed a dominant first-leg victory in the all-French showdown (0-3), allowing them to look ahead to the return leg at the Parc des Princes in eight days with confidence.

Before that, however, the club from the capital will turn their attention back to Ligue 1, as they travel to Toulouse this Saturday (21:05) for Matchday 22.