Brest is next in line as defending champion Paris Saint-Germain tries to stay unbeaten in the French league. PSG leads by 10 points with 15 games to go and remains on course for a yet another Ligue 1 and French Cup double.

Paris Saint-Germain completed an impressive turnaround in form to reach the UEFA Champions League playoffs on Wednesday with a 4-1 win away at VfB Stuttgart securing a top-24 berth when all had seemed lost with three games to go.

French side Brest have making wave through the 2024-25 season, rising from recent obscurity and becoming a tricky out for some of the world's biggest clubs.

PSG are certain to face a Ligue 1 team - either Monaco or Brest - in a two-legged play-off round in February. The league champions have sealed their spot in

Three out of the four Ligue 1 clubs involved in the Champions League have secured their spot for the latter stages of the competition. Lille, Brest and Monaco

Ligue 1 has trolled Cristiano Ronaldo, on the back of his recent comments about the division, after seeing four clubs enjoy Champions League progress.

The rivalry between European and Middle Eastern soccer has taken a new turn, with Ligue 1 securing bragging rights over Cristiano Ronaldo’s recent claims about the superiority of the Saudi Pro League.

France's performance is all the more notable, given that Lille took the scalp of Real and Atlético, while Monaco was the only team to beat Barça in the competition. Of course, Brest's fantastic campaign, which beat PSV Eindhoven and resisted Bayer Leverkusen, is worth mentioning.

Brest's incredible rise to the Champions League, the Boniface/Duran transfer saga, and the very rare Lasso trading

At the end of the first phase of the Champions League, neither of the four French clubs initially engaged is eliminated. Paris Saint-Germain, AS Monaco and Stade Brestois will compete in the dams on February 11-12 and 18-19 next. For its part, the LOSC managed to qualify directly for the round of 16.

Dembélé’s hat trick in a 4-1 victory over Stuttgart on Wednesday took him to 16 goals overall, which is already a career best. He has taken 25 games to reach that mark, a far better ratio than his previous best of 14 in 42 for Barcelona in 2018-19.