PLAYER RATINGS | PSG 7-0 Brest [agg. 10-0]: Hosts cruise into Champions League last 16 | OneFootball

There was little doubt about Brest’s unlikely European adventure coming to an end at the Parc des Princes, against an opponent they’d already faced (and lost to) twice this month alone. Although the Bretons’ manager seemed to approach Wednesday’s tie with optimism, he did leave several key players on the bench, notably in striker Ludovic Ajorque and goalkeeper Marco Bizot.

Eric Roy’s men would hold out against the Parisians for all of twenty minutes, having carved out opportunities of their own in that time. It was Bradley Barcola who continued his impessive scoring run, having found the net against Manchester City and Stuttgart last month, with an increasingly trademark near-post elastic finish from the left wing.

The former Lyon man involved again for PSG’s second, helping João Neves’ cross along the Brest goal to Khvicha Kvaratskhelia at the back post, with the Georgian scoring on his first Champions League start for the club from a tight angle. The hosts duly added another before the hour mark, with Vitinha curling a shot from the edge of the box into the bottom corner shortly after Coudert had denied Barcola.

A fourth would come soon later, with two of Luis Enrique’s substitutes combining within minutes of their introduction —  Gonçalo Ramos’ backheeled control to evade his marker opened up a one-on-one chance, which he pulled back for Désiré Doué to fire into an empty net. The fifth of the night would see the two full-backs combine, with Achraf Hakimi handed an acre of space to run into before finding Nuno Mendes at the back post for a straightforward finish.

The biggest cheer of the night from the Parc des Princes faithful, though, would be for Presnel Kimpembe’s introduction — the 29-year-old Paris native, long sidelined by back-to-back Achilles injuries, was making his first appearance on the continental stage since 2022.

Ramos would soon find the back of the net himself, latching onto Doué’s deflected ball into the box with a precise (and perhaps fortuitous) finish that bobbled past Coudert and into the bottom-left corner. Another substitute in Senny Mayulu would round of the scoring five minutes from time, with the Brest goalkeeper unable to stop the 18-year-old’s close-range effort from creeping in off the post.

There were nevertheless a few chances for the visitors to grab a consolation goal, though  — notably through Pierre Lees-Melou’s effort against the post on the hour mark, and an Abdallah Sima goal which was ruled out after an offside call. A decidedly sour ending to their European campaign should not minimise the achievement of staying among the continental elite as late as February, though.

In truth, the tie was effectively wrapped out by the hour mark in the first leg — the familiarity (and weakness) of their opposition meaning that any thought of Champions League stage fright scarcely even crossed the PSG players’ minds. Repeating these kinds of incisive peformances against Liverpool or Barcelona, though, will be an altogether different challenge.

PSG player ratings

Gianluigi Donnarumma, 7

Achraf Hakimi, 7

Marquinhos, 6

Willian Pacho, 7

Nuno Mendes, 7

João Neves, 7

Vitinha, 8

Fabián Ruiz, 6

Bradley Barcola, 7

Ousmane Dembélé, 6 – The French international was unable to score against the Bretons for the third match this month. Despite some typically incisive runs to the edge of the box, some wayward finish prevented the forward from exerting a more concrete impact. Replaced on the hour mark by Désiré Doué, who made an instant impact.

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, 8 – An impressive first Champions League start in Paris for the Georgian, who scored the second of the night before assisting the final goal from Senny Mayulu.

GFFN | Raphaël Jucobin – reporting from the Parc des Princes, Paris