PARIS: Paris Saint-Germain head into the Champions League knockout phase in rude health, with their crushing domination against domestic opposition making a Ligue 1 and French Cup double look highly likely and leaving them in a strong position to keep advancing in Europe.
Luis Enrique’s team head into Friday’s home clash with Monaco with a 10-point lead over Marseille at the top of Ligue 1, with the principality side a further three points behind in third.
Even a slip-up in that game against another of France’s Champions League representatives is unlikely to stop them in their procession toward a fourth straight league title, and their 11th in 13 seasons.
In midweek they eased to an uneventful 2-0 win away to third-tier Le Mans to secure a place in the French Cup quarter-finals.
The fact that almost all of their most serious rivals domestically have already been eliminated from that competition means it would be an enormous surprise if the Parisians did not now claim a record-extending 16th French Cup triumph.
PSG have not lost to French opponents in 27 games stretching back to last May, when they were beaten 3-1 at home by Toulouse having already secured the Ligue 1 title.
That is their only loss in their last 60 meetings with domestic opponents since September 2023, a record which speaks volumes for their absolutely enormous financial advantage over the rest of French football.
The Qatar-owned club’s revenue for 2024 of almost 806 million euros ($837m) put them third in the world, behind only Real Madrid and Manchester City, in analysts Deloitte’s recently published Football Money League.
The only other French clubs in the top 30 were Marseille and Lyon, whose combined revenue totalled 551 million euros.
Put simply, no wonder PSG’s French rivals cannot compete, and it does not augur well for Brest, who must now face Luis Enrique’s team in the knockout phase play-offs of the Champions League.
The first leg takes place in Brittany next Tuesday, with the return in Paris on Feb. 19.
Brest’s entire budget for this season is reported to be just under 50 million euros.
All of which means PSG should make it through to the last 16 in Europe, where either Liverpool or Barcelona await.
Meanwhile in Paris the possibility is already being raised of PSG going through the entire season without losing a game domestically.
“Records are not an objective for us,” said Luis Enrique on Friday when asked about the possibility of establishing that new record.
“What is important is to win titles. If those come with records, that is marvellous, but that is not the aim.”
The 27-year-old’s transformation from a devilish dribbler on the wing to lethal central striker has been remarkable.
The France international has scored 14 goals in his last nine appearances for PSG, going back to mid-December. Prior to that he had scored 11 times in 59 games for the capital club since arriving from Barcelona in 2023.
Dembele scored back-to-back hat-tricks against VfB Stuttgart, in the Champions League, and Brest before being rested for the win at Le Mans in midweek to keep him fresh for the coming games.
He became the first player in PSG history to score hat-tricks in successive matches — something the likes of Kylian Mbappe, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Edinson Cavani, Neymar and Lionel Messi were all unable to achieve.
PSG’s crushing domination leaves no hope for domestic rivals
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PSG’s crushing domination leaves no hope for domestic rivals
- PSG have not lost to French opponents in 27 games stretching back to last May
- The first leg takes place in Brittany next Tuesday, with the return in Paris on Feb. 19
NBA–DCT Abu Dhabi long-term renewal expands league’s footprint across UAE
- Academy launch and youth programs headline new agreement which sees pre-season games continue in the capital
ABU DHABI: With New York Knicks orange and Philadelphia 69ers blue splashed across the stands, fans streamed into Etihad Arena on Yas Island last October to watch two of the National Basketball Association’s most well-known franchises take center stage.
The sell-out games were another sign of how far the NBA’s presence in Abu Dhabi and the region has spread, and that footprint expanded further this week when the league and the Department of Culture and Tourism Abu Dhabi confirmed a long-term renewal of their collaboration.
The extension will see pre-season NBA Global Games continue in the emirate alongside the launch of a new NBA Global Academy and expanded youth and fan programming across the UAE.
The agreement formalizes what has increasingly become a year-round NBA presence in the capital. Since the first Abu Dhabi Games in 2022, a stream of high-profile NBA teams has played preseason games in the city — Milwaukee and Atlanta that year, followed by Dallas and Minnesota in 2023, reigning champions Boston Celtics and Denver Nuggets in 2024, and the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers last October — bringing MVP talent such as Giannis Antetokounmpo and Joel Embiid alongside championship rosters and perennial contenders.
Away from the bright lights of Etihad Arena, the NBA’s footprint has filtered into schools and community gyms across the UAE capital. The multiyear collaboration with DCT Abu Dhabi has gone far beyond preseason games, encompassing the Jr. NBA/Jr. WNBA Abu Dhabi League, fan festivals, player appearances and community clinics designed to promote healthy lifestyles and introduce young people to the fundamentals of the sport — an approach that research firm YouGov says has lifted basketball participation in the UAE by 60 percent and expanded the league’s local fanbase by more than 25 percent since the annual preseason visits began.
An NBA Global Academy will be launched in Abu Dhabi and will serve as the global hub for the league’s academy network, operating year-round as an elite basketball development and academic program for top high-school-age student-athletes from the UAE, the Middle East and beyond. The academy will include elite development programming for up to 20 local boys, basketball development activities for local girls and residential programming for up to 24 male prospects from the rest of the world.
Abu Dhabi will also host two annual youth tournaments under the expanded agreement, following the 2025 NBA Academy Showcase at NYU Abu Dhabi from Sept. 25 to 27, which featured elite teenage prospects from NBA Academy Africa in Senegal, IMG Academy in the United States, INSEP in France and Basketball Australia’s Centre of Excellence.
Mohamed Khalifa Al-Mubarak, chairman of DCT Abu Dhabi, said the renewal reflected the emirate’s long-term ambitions in sport and youth development.
“Extending our partnership with the NBA further strengthens Abu Dhabi’s position as the new home of basketball in the Middle East and reinforces our commitment to our youth,” he said.
“The establishment of the NBA Global Academy in Abu Dhabi will open pathways for Emirati and UAE-based athletes, coaches and sports professionals to learn from the world’s best, while our long-term hosting of the NBA Global Games will inspire the next generation.
“Beyond bringing world-class sporting events to our capital, the NBA’s youth programs and grassroots initiatives encourage healthy, active lifestyles and connect our residents to the universal values of sport.”
From the NBA’s perspective, the UAE capital has become one of its most significant overseas platforms.
NBA Deputy Commissioner and Chief Operating Officer Mark Tatum said the collaboration had been instrumental in growing basketball participation and fandom in the UAE and across the Middle East.
“We look forward to building on those efforts in the years to come, including through the launch of an NBA Global Academy that will help develop elite-level players from the region and around the world,” he added.
The extended collaboration will also expand youth development programming that has already reached more than 20,000 boys and girls since 2022, with plans to grow the existing Jr. NBA and Jr. WNBA leagues in Abu Dhabi and Al-Ain to six later this year and 12 by 2028.
The commercial side of the relationship is also evolving, with Experience Abu Dhabi remaining the NBA’s official tourism partner across the Middle East, China and Europe while the deal now extends into Africa, Asia, Canada and Latin America.
With more teams expected, academy graduates emerging and junior leagues expanding, Abu Dhabi’s role in the NBA’s international strategy appears set to deepen. Additional details about future NBA preseason games in Abu Dhabi, including the schedule and participating teams, are expected to be announced later.
