Barcelona or Liverpool? Expert Suggests Ideal Opponent for PSG if They Progress Past Brest | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain will face Stade Brestois in the UEFA Champions League knockout phase play-off. The winner of this tie will get either FC Barcelona or Liverpool in the next stage of the competition.

In the lead-up to their Champions League clash, PSG cruised to a 5-2 win over Brest at Stade Francis Le Blé. Ousmane Dembélé has transformed into a prolific goal scorer in 2025. Since the start of the year, the former Barcelona winger has netted 11 times in just six matches—more than any other player in Europe so far.

A player who had only one career hat trick before last week has now delivered two in the span of four days. He opened the scoring in the 29th minute, finishing off a surging run and pinpoint cross from Bradley Barcola. His second came in the 56th minute when he reacted quickest to a Fabian Ruiz shot that deflected off Marco Bizot.

But his third was the highlight, a clinical finish from a brilliant Kang-in Lee assist in the 62nd minute. With 14 goals, Dembélé now tops the Ligue 1 scoring charts.

Who should PSG want to face in the next phase?

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If the current Ligue 1 leaders get by Brest, they’ll get Barcelona or Liverpool. On the latest PSG Talking podcast, Football Transfers’ Robin Bairner stated who would be the ideal opponent for the capital club in the next phase.

“For me, Barcelona, undoubtedly,” Bairner said. “Barcelona haven’t been in particularly good form in La Liga. They’ve already lost to Monaco this season and to PSG last season, albeit PSG with Mbappé. But we’ve spoken about this before—PSG are arguably now a better team without Mbappé. So, for me, it has to be Barcelona.”