Brest vs PSG Preview: Team News & Prediction

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We have an all-French affair in the first UEFA Champions League knockout playoff tie of the 2024/25 season as Ligue 1 leaders Paris Saint-Germain face the fairytale story, Stade Brest.

Kick-off date/time: Tuesday 11th February, 2025: UK – 5:45pm / US ET – 12:45pm / US PT – 11:45am

How to watch on TV: UK – TNT Sports / US – Not televised

How to watch online: UK – Discovery+ / US – Paramount+

Brest Preview: A magical story

Stade Brest, with former Sunderland player Eric Roy at the helm, massively overperformed last season as they finished third and qualified for the UEFA Champions League despite being one of the pre-season favourites for relegation and their fairytale story has continued this season.

To sit in the top-half of Ligue 1 is still an overachievement for Brest so, despite their regression this year, they remain a team punching above their weight and to come through the league phase of the UEFA Champions League to boot only heightens their relative success.

PSG Preview: Needing more

Defending French champions Paris Saint-Germain have endured rough patches of form throughout the campaign but the Parisiens remain unbeaten in Ligue 1 with 15 victories and five draws as they romp to yet another French title.

They required a late spurt in the league phase of the UEFA Champions League to qualify for the knockout playoffs with three successive wins to finish their eight-game campaign, including a 4-2 defeat of Manchester City at the Parc des Princes in a game in which they were 2-0 down.

Brest Team News: Left-back issues

Former Newcastle United defender Massadio Haidara has returned to full fitness for Brest this week but fellow left-backs former Aston Villa man Jordan Amavi and reported Tottenham Hotspur target Bradley Locko remain sidelined for the nominal hosts.

Predicted XI (4-3-3): Bizot; Lala, Chardonnet, Ndiaye, Haidara; Camara, Lees-Melou, Magnetti; Faivre, Ajorque, Sima

Unavailable: Amavi (Injured), Locko (Injured)

Questionable: Martin (Injured)

PSG Team News: Kvaradona’s PSG UCL debut

Khvicha Kvaratskhelia couldn’t play in PSG’s two league phase matches in January but he has been included in their squad for the second-half of the campaign after the Georgia international scored his first goal for the club against Monaco at the weekend.

Predicted XI (4-3-3): Donnarumma; Neves, Marquinhos, Pacho, Mendes; Doue, Vitinha, Ruiz; Barcola, Dembele, Kvaratskhelia

Unavailable: Zaire-Emery (Injured)

Questionable:

Key Stats

The only previous European Cup/UEFA Champions League tie (all rounds) between two French teams was in the 2009/10 quarter-finals when Lyon faced Bordeaux (Lyon won 3-2 on aggregate).
Brest have reached the UEFA Champions League knockout phase in their UEFA competition debut. They automatically qualified for the league phase, so this is their first ever two-legged UEFA tie.
Brest have won four of their previous eight UEFA Champions League matches this season (D1 L3).
Brest have scored in the first half in five of their previous eight UEFA Champions League matches this season.
Romain Del Castillo scored in Brest’s previous two competitive matches against Paris this season.
Paris are unbeaten in their last 30 competitive games against Brest (W22 D8), since a 3-1 defeat in the league on 26 January 1985.
Paris won both meetings between these two teams in the French league this season. A 3-1 victory in September 2024 was followed by a 5-2 success at Brest on 1 February 2025.
UEFA Champions League semi-finalists last season, Paris are competing in the knockout phase for the 13th successive season.
Paris have won their last three UEFA Champions League matches. This is their best sequence of successive wins in the competition since 2020/21 when they won four in a row.
Paris have lost the first leg in three of their last four UEFA Champions League knockout phase ties (W1).
Marquinhos is set to make his 100th appearance in the UEFA Champions League proper. He would become the first player to reach 100 appearances for a French team in the competition.
Ousmane Dembélé has scored five goals in his two previous appearances against Brest this season (two in September and three in February).

Brest vs PSG Prediction

This match is being played at the neutral venue of Stade Municipal de Roudourou due to Brest’s home ground not reaching the requisite standard for UEFA, highlighting how impressive it is they have made it this far. Stade Brest come into one on the back of a 2-0 win away Nantes at the weekend to mean they have won ten of their last 15 matches across all competitions after a disappointing start to the year. They now face a PSG side that have become machine-like in the last few months and that has included a 5-2 defeat of their opponents in Ligue 1 earlier this month with another entertaining Parisien victory to be expected for this one.

Brest vs PSG Tip: PSG to win & over 2.5 goals