Nottingham Guardian - PSG's crushing domination leaves no hope for domestic rivals

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 towards 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 February 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."

Player to watch: Ousmane Dembele

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.

Key stats

27 - PSG are unbeaten in their last 27 games against domestic opponents, with 21 wins and six draws

14 - Dembele is the top scorer in Ligue 1 with 14 goals, and has 14 in his last nine matches in all competitions

13 - Mason Greenwood has 13 goals in his first 20 Ligue 1 games for Marseille, matching the tally of Didier Drogba in his lone season at the club in 2003/04.

Fixtures (times GMT)

Friday

Nantes v Brest (1800), Paris Saint-Germain v Monaco (2005)

Saturday

Nice v Lens (1600), Lille v Le Havre (1800), Saint-Etienne v Rennes (2005)

Sunday

Lyon v Reims (1400), Strasbourg v Montpellier, Auxerre v Toulouse (1615), Angers v Marseille (1945)

C.Queeney--NG