Dembele on fire as PSG take playoff spot, Stuttgart out

Ousmane Dembélé played chief tormentor as Paris Saint-Germain secured a playoff spot in the Champions League with a 4-1 away demolition of VfB Stuttgart on Wednesday.

Dembele netted a hat trick and fellow France forward Bradley Barcola added another as PSG qualified for the playoffs as one of the eight seeded teams for Friday's draw after finishing 15th in the 36-team league.

The result eliminated Stuttgart, who had a woeful first half and could only reduce the arrears through Chris Fuehrich.

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.

"Well, I'm very happy. We had a great draw. We fought from the first game to get points. We managed to get some," said the PSG manager after booking their spot in the knockout round playoffs.

The visitors, who will face either Stade Brestois or Monaco, both Ligue 1 rivals, went ahead after six minutes when Barcola ghosted his markers to head home from Achraf Hakimi's overhead flick.

Stuttgart came close when Fuehrich'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 bagged goal of the season with a missile of a cross shot that went into the opposite side of the net to put PSG in a very comfortable spot before half-time.

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The France forward was at it again after the break, curling a splendid shot into the top corner from Hakimi's pass in the box for his 17th goal of the season.

"It's a football team," Luis Enrique said of Dembélé. :There are times when the attackers are very good, like Barcola at the beginning now Dembélé. Maybe it will be Ramos later, Lee, Kvaraskhelia, Désiré Doué. It's a team."

Fuehrich pulled one back with a clinical finish in the 77th minute but Stuttgart never threatened a comeback and finished 26th in the league.

PSG, instead, wrapped up their league phase in style a week after beating Manchester City 4-2 from being 2-0 down.

"We can be proud, we've played a great game from start to finish," man of the match Dembele said. "We've been playing well for a while now and tonight we showed a good mindset from the start."

Dembele, who has scored eight goals in his last five outings, believes the team gained in motivation after a lacklustre start in the Champions League.

"We worked a lot. We have players who want to win trophies with PSG and everybody has been pulling together," he said. "I'm happy with my performances. Being as a lone forward, I'm closer to the goal. Now the playoff will be a fight but we have time to prepare."