Stuttgart 1-4 Paris Saint-Germain: Dembele hat-trick secures play-off spot

Paris Saint-Germain secured a play-off spot in the Champions League as Ousmane Dembele played chief tormentor in a 4-1 away demolition of Stuttgart.

Dembele netted a hat-trick and fellow France forward Bradley Barcola added another as PSG qualified for the play-offs as one of the eight seeded teams for Friday’s draw.

The win on Wednesday meant PSG finished 15th in the 36-team league, with the result eliminating Stuttgart, who had a woeful first half and could only reduce the arrears through a Willian Pacho own goal.

Luis Enrique’s PSG were in danger of also missing the cut in November before they completed a remarkable turnaround, winning their last three games and scoring 11 goals.

The visitors, who will face either Brest or Monaco, both Ligue 1 rivals, went ahead after six minutes when Barcola ghosted his markers to head home from Desire Doue’s delivery.

Stuttgart came close when Chris Fuhrich’s brutal strike was parried away by Gianluigi Donnarumma, but on the resulting counter-attack, Dembele slid the ball past Fabian Bredlow after being set up by Barcola.

Dembele struck again with a missile of a cross-shot that went into the opposite side of the net to put PSG in a very comfortable spot 10 minutes before half-time.