GUINGAMP, France: Ousmane Dembele kept up his remarkable form in front of goal with a double as Paris Saint-Germain took a big step toward qualifying for the last 16 of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over French rivals Brest in the first leg of their play-off tie on Tuesday.
PSG were overwhelming favorites coming into this tie against opponents who had never taken part in European competition before this season, and there seems little prospect of Brest recovering from this loss in next week’s second leg.
Vitinha opened the scoring for PSG at the Stade de Roudourou in Guingamp with a penalty just before the midway point in the first half, and Dembele swept in a second on the stroke of half-time before netting again on 66 minutes.
The French international forward now has 23 goals for the season, including 18 in 11 appearances over the last two months.
Indeed he has 10 goals in just the last four games, a run which includes a hat-trick against Brest in Ligue 1 only 10 days ago.
He is irresistible just now, and Luis Enrique’s side are unbeatable at the moment against French opponents, against whom they have not lost since last May.
“Ousmane is full of confidence just now. He was good in 2024 and he is even better in 2025,” said Luis Enrique.
The teams will meet again in the return leg of this knockout phase play-off tie next Wednesday in Paris, with the winners advancing to a last-16 showdown with either Liverpool or Barcelona.
Assuming they make it through, PSG will feel they are capable of beating either of those sides on current form, although Luis Enrique is taking nothing for granted.
“There is no chance we will treat the second leg like a training game,” said the Spaniard. “Our objective is to qualify for the last 16 by winning the return.”
Brest had not defeated the Parisians in any competition in 40 years, since January 1985, and have now lost 18 of the last 19 meetings between the teams.
They will have to try again next week to end that miserable run.
“It is disappointing and frustrating. I think 3-0 is harsh on us but PSG deserved to win,” said Brest coach Eric Roy. “Not many people will imagine us winning 4-0 at the Parc des Princes.”
Once again hosting a Champions League game an hour away from Brest itself in Guingamp, they nearly got lucky early on, when an attempted clearance by PSG goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma struck the face of forward Ludovic Ajorque and almost ricocheted in.
However, PSG were handed the chance to go ahead when a Dembele shot struck the arm of Pierre Lees-Melou inside the Brest box in the 17th minute.
The Bosnian referee had to come across to check the pitchside monitor before pointing to the spot, and Vitinha then stepped up to send goalkeeper Marco Bizot the wrong way with the penalty.
Brest did not let their heads go down and Abdallah Sima had two big chances to equalize, first being denied by Willian Pacho’s great recovery tackle and then heading against the far post from the resulting corner.
Achraf Hakimi almost scored an own goal too, but instead Paris struck again just before the break, majestically playing their way out of Brest’s press and breaking away.
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, but the visitors continued to look so dangerous.
Desire Doue had the ball in the net only for his effort to be ruled out for a tight offside in the build-up, while Dembele fired wide from a good position.
Dembele did then strike again 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.
Dembele stars again as PSG beat Brest in Champions League play-off first leg
https://arab.news/5zfhr
Dembele stars again as PSG beat Brest in Champions League play-off first leg
- The French international forward now has 23 goals for the season, including 18 in 11 appearances over the last two months
Fans throw objects onto field after Messi visits Kolkata’s Salt Lake stadium
- Messi is in India as part of a tour during which he is scheduled to attend concerts, youth football clinics, a Padel tournament and launch charitable initiatives
- The 2022 World Cup winner walked around the pitch at the stadium waving to the fans,
NEW DELHI: Lionel Messi’s highly anticipated visit to India turned into chaos for fans of the football icon in Kolkata on Saturday, after his brief appearance at a local stadium sparked anger among thousands in attendance.
The Argentine football star, who is on a three-day visit to India billed as “GOAT (greatest of all time) Tour,” arrived in the eastern state of West Bengal early on Saturday. His main public event in Kolkata took place about noon at the Salt Lake Stadium, where thousands of spectators had reportedly paid up to 12,000 rupees, or $133, to see him.
Messi was seen walking around the pitch and waving to the crowd, but obscured by a large group of people, before leaving only about 20 minutes after arrival.
Widely circulating clips online showed frustrated fans, some clad in the Argentinian team’s sky blue and white jersey, breaking down barricades and storming the pitch after he left, while others ripped up stadium seats and threw items onto the track.
“People are very disappointed that this ended this way. I spent 4,500 rupees, but there are people who spent more,” Ayan Das, a Messi fan who attended the stadium event, told Arab News.
“It was a disappointment that Messi, who was supposed to be in the stadium for at least one hour, left in 15 minutes.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that she was “deeply disturbed and shocked” by how the Kolkata event unfolded.
“I sincerely apologise to Lionel Messi, as well as to all sports lovers and his fans, for the unfortunate incident,” she wrote on X.
Local authorities have since launched an investigation into the incident and arrested the event organizer, who has been identified as Satadru Dutta.
Messi was returning to Kolkata — which has a large football fanbase in an otherwise cricket-crazed country — after first visiting in 2011 for an international friendly match with Venezuela.
This time around, the city had built a 21-meter statue of the 2022 World Cup winner, which he inaugurated virtually as part of the visit.
After weeks of build-up and excitement, the disappointment was palpable for the entire city, which has been looking forward to seeing Messi in real life, said Ranadeep Mukherjee, who owns coaching center German Football Academy in Kolkata.
“For so many people, this was their lifelong dream, right? I know people who have paid off their whole month’s salary to buy one ticket for this event. I mean, that has been the level of commitment. People have taken loans. People have, like, gone beyond their means to buy a ticket to see their god for one minute,” he told Arab News.
“As a Kolkata native, it is very sad for me, and like, in a way, it is sort of a shame for the city that we could not show him how much of a football-loving city we are and how good of a fan base we are.”
But other Indian football fans were still brimming with excitement, as Messi’s tour of India also included stops in Hyderabad, Mumbai and New Delhi, where he is scheduled to attend concerts, youth football clinics, a padel tournament and launch charitable initiatives.
“It will really inspire a lot of people, a lot of young kids and coaches and everywhere,” said Peter Alex Todd, a footballer from the northeastern state of Assam.
“I believe we, all football lovers and the young generation, will be very much inspired to watch him.”
For Aarav Dadhwal, a 17-year-old student in Delhi, Messi’s visit was a “dream come true.”
“This is like once in a lifetime that a player like him comes and visits India. So many people who might never get a chance to see him playing can get a glimpse of him,” he told Arab News.
“Many people will definitely be inspired by him. And I also think that inspiration is necessary, and he also, like should take some initiative, like start some academies in India, because India’s progress in football is much-needed.”
