VfB Stuttgart 1-4 Paris Saint-Germain: Talking points as Ligue 1 champions run riot in Germany to secure Champions League progress

Having booked a stunning home victory over Manchester City in the penultimate round of the Champions League group stage, Paris Saint-Germain made sure it was not in vain as they thundered past VfB Stuttgart in Germany on Wednesday, booking a place in the playoffs.

The game was practically settled in the first half already, as Bradley Barcola struck with just five minutes gone, and Ousmane Dembele followed it up with a brace (17′, 35′). The former Barcelona winger turned that brace into a hat-trick in the 54th minute, and the only consolation the home side could get came in the form of an own-goal from Willian Pacho in the 77th.

The teams
The difficulties Stuttgart faced in this game were not unexpected, not only due to the vast quality of the visitors, but also because coach Sebastian Hoeness had to deal with the absences of eight players. Luca Raimund, Nikolas Nartey, Justin Diehl, El Bilal Toure, Dan Zagadou, Laurin Ulrich and Alexander Nubel were all out of action through different injury problems, while Anthony Rouault had to sit the match out for yellow-card accumulation.

Fabian Bredlow was in goal. Ameen Al-Dakhil and Julian Chabot were in the heart of defence, with Josha Vagnoman and Maximilian Mittelstadt on the defensive flanks. Atakan Karazor paired up with Angelo Stiller in the middle of the park, while the trio of Jamie Leweling, Enzo Millot and Chris Fuhrich supported striker Deniz Undav.

Meanwhile, PSG boss Luis Enrique missed left-back Nuno Mendes through suspension, and Ibrahim Mbaye was injured.

Gianluigi Donnarumma stood between the posts, and Pacho and Marquinhos were the centre-back partners, with Lucas Hernandez on the left and Achraf Hakimi on the right. Vitinha anchored the midfield, with Joao Neves and Warren Zaire-Emery in box-to-box roles. Desire Doue started as the central attacker, flanked by Barcola and Dembele.

Game recap
PSG were the better team in this contest and their victory was deserved, though the scoreline perhaps doesn’t do justice to the effort Stuttgart put in.

The first noteworthy moment was the opening goal, which came from a right-side corner for PSG. As Dembele whipped it towards the near post, Doue produced a touch of magic to lift it over to the other side, about a yard from the far post where Barcola was only too happy to head it in.

Fuhrich had a great chance to put his team back level in the 12th minute as he timed his run to perfection to latch onto a pass behind the PSG back line, but he was too slow and allowed Pacho to catch up. Forced to go wide by the defender, all he could do was fire a tame shot straight at Donnarumma.

Fuhrich did a lot better four minutes later when Leweling broke down the left and put the ball in the box. The ball found him unmarked at around 10 yards and he took a good shot, but Donnarumma displayed superb reflexes and made a top-class save. The PSG defence dealt with the rebound and sprang a quick counterattack, and it was Barcola’s turn to make a run in behind as Vitinha whipped the ball over the Stuttgart back line. Barcola charged down the left and squared it to the far post for Dembele, who did the easy part of the job to double his team’s lead. The linesman raised his flag to signal Barcola had been offside in the buildup, but the VAR intervened and the goal was given.

PSG almost scored again in the exact same way in the 31st minute as Barcola broke down the left again and squared it to the far post. It was Doue this time who was supposed to put it in, but Bredlow did unbelievably well to keep it out.

However, there was nothing Bredlow could do four minutes later, when Dembele took advantage of his marker not getting close enough to fire a rocket past the Stuttgart goalkeeper. A fantastic goal indeed, and with the scoreline reading 0-3, the contest was probably over at that point already.

Be that as it may, the Bundesliga side were obviously left with a mountain to climb after the break, and things got even worse for them in the 54th minute. Having won the ball in the opposition half, PSG played an intricate team move in and around the box, and try as hard as they could, the Stuttgart defence couldn’t do much to thwart them as Hakimi set Dembele up for a shot from just inside the box. The shot perfectly reflected Dembele’s incredible form, and Bredlow was beaten for the fourth time.

Doue tried for a fifth goal just four minutes later, but Bredlow was positioned well enough to make light work of the shot.

Doomed to bow out of the competition, Stuttgart were determined to at least get one on the scoresheet, and they managed it in the 77th minute. A well-worked throw-in resulted in Mittelstadt breaking down the left, and his low cross to the six yards targeted the unhappy Fuhrich who again failed to divert it in. Luckily for his team, Pacho, who was trying to stop him, did that for him, putting the ball past his own goalkeeper to set the final score at 1-4.

Final group rankings
Given what happened elsewhere, in the other matches determining the names of the teams to take part in the playoffs, a draw in Stuttgart would’ve been enough for both sides to be on that list, but after an unexpectedly slow start to the campaign, PSG simply weren’t prepared to take any chances. This result has seen Luis Enrique’s team finish 15th, with 13 points out if the possible 24 – far from great, but obviously good enough to get the job done.

However, this was the easier part. Should PSG get past the playoff round – where, incidentally, they’ll face a Ligue 1 rival in either Brest or Monaco – the round of 16 will have them pitted against either the red-hot form of Barcelona, or Liverpool, who finished top of the standings and lead the Premier League title race as well.

Apart from a shocking 5-1 defeat to Red Star in Belgrade in November, Stuttgart had a very decent Champions League campaign, finishing 26th but with just three points less than PSG. And it will arguably come as a bit of a relief for their injury-hit squad to focus more on their Bundesliga adventures, once the feelings of disappointment wear off.

Hoeness’s men might get another chance to compete against the European elite next season, sitting currently fourth in the German top flight. But for the time being, they probably won’t be looking too far ahead. Their sorrow still needs assuaging, and Borussia Monchengladbach arriving to the MHPArena on Saturday will be a good opportunity to try and forget about it.