If Paris Saint-Germain were grasping for a playoff safety net just over a week ago, they ended up flinging themselves into it gleefully. Perhaps the new-look Champions League really does serve the big guns as intended: the illusion of serious jeopardy had been vivid before the sprawling final match-day kicked off but PSG, having given the neutrals their fun, swiftly made a mockery of it in Stuttgart. Just as they had in destroying Manchester City, they looked a side whose sparkling attack could yet make a push for the latter stages. It was a performance that scorned suggestions they would fail at the 36-team format’s first hurdle.
Ousmane Dembélé’s exceptional hat-trick would have felt all the sweeter to the forward given he was booed throughout this game, presumably for his Borussia Dortmund connections. More pertinently, it was a reminder PSG have retained plenty of proven quality despite the departures of their superstar names. Bradley Barcola, who set the ball rolling before Stuttgart could gather breath, was unplayable and offered a blistering vision of the new generation’s capabilities.
Both players were helped by a desperately open Stuttgart, whose approach bordered on naivety. A draw would have sent both teams through and, though nobody would ever dare utter the sentiment, perhaps a measured, agreeable affair could have satisfied everyone. But if the home side would have settled for a biscotto, all they ended up with was a soggy mush. They needed to tighten up for a while after falling behind so early but instead they were exposed repeatedly and left devoid of hope well before half-time.
Maybe things would have panned out differently if a remarkable 17th-minute sequence had fallen their way. Stuttgart had teemed forward after Barcola, stooping bravely at the far post, converted a needlessly conceded corner that had been helped on by Désiré Doué. The equaliser they needed seemed to be on at that point but they faced a formidable obstacle in the form of Gianluigi Donnarumma. When Chris Führich was found open on the right of the area after a flowing break, it seemed a case of waiting for the net to ripple. Instead Donnarumma, athletic and imposing in equal measure, produced a stunning one-handed stop to his right and PSG sprang forward immediately.
Barcola, who had the freedom of the left flank throughout, was initially judged offside after perfectly teeing up Dembélé for a tap-in. But PSG had, for neither the first time nor the last, simply been too sharp; VAR showed the goal to be good and, from the verge of a sticky spot seconds previously, Luis Enrique’s players were virtually through.
This was the moment when Stuttgart might have been advised to slow things down until the break. They still had time to solve things against opponents who did not appear watertight. But they continued to leave gaping holes and, while they might have been buoyed when Fabian Bredlow made a quite staggering save on his line from Doué, it was a matter of time before the next wound was applied. Dembélé’s sleight of foot wrought a shooting chance that, cracked through Bredlow’s hands, ensured the game was over after 35 minutes.
“One thing is clear this evening: Stuttgart is the winner,” a huge banner unfurled before the start by the home fans had read. In a way they were correct: simply being at this level after almost a decade and a half away, and 19 months since negotiating a Bundesliga relegation playoff, is evidence of how far this marvellously supported institution has bounced back. The same faithful tried to cajole a second-half comeback but, after the expected flurry, they were silenced once again.
Dembélé’s final goal was brilliantly taken and created, the 27-year-old scooping a shot into the top corner after Achraf Hakimi had received his backheel and offered a return pass.
PSG were far more decisive around the box. Nonetheless there were a few minutes before the hour mark when other scores in the table’s vast movable feast would have sent Stuttgart through. That shimmer of excitement faded quickly; Führich did nudge in a consolation via the toe of Willian Pacho but the home team’s manager, Sebastian Hoeness, was left to curse how the numbers had fallen.
“Somebody told me 10 points would be enough [to progress] with 99% probability,” he said after seeing them finish on that tally. “So in the end the AI wasn’t right, even 11 points wasn’t enough [for Dinamo Zagreb].”
PSG’s real-world intelligence proved more than adequate. “Since the beginning of the season we’ve had high ambition but we’re one of the youngest teams in the competition,” Luis Enrique said. The addition of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia should help them later. For now, they can embrace their second chance.
