Before Monaco v PSG, the rare all-French European knockout ties revisited | OneFootball

Paris Saint-Germain face Monaco in the Champions League play-offs on 17-18 and 24-25 February. According to L'Équipe, it is a rare all-French knockout, only the sixth in Europe and the second in this competition.

It also means the European champions will have faced domestic opposition twice in two seasons under the new format, after dispatching Brest 3-0 and 7-0 at the same stage last year.

1998: Marseille met Monaco in the UEFA Cup last 16, months before losing 3-0 to Parma in the final. Titi Camara struck in a 2-2 first leg at Louis II, then settled the return 1-0 on 71 minutes.

2005: Auxerre edged Lille in the UEFA Cup last 16, Kanga Akalé deciding the first leg 1-0 in the North, before a goalless return sent Guy Roux’s side through.

2010: Claude Puel’s Lyon eliminated Bordeaux in the Champions League quarters. Lisandro Lopez scored twice in a 3-1 first leg, the first laid on by a young Karim Benzema, before Hugo Lloris’s saves limited a 1-0 reverse.

2025: Paris swept Brest in the play-offs, 3-0 then 7-0, with seven different scorers, and later routed Inter Milan 5-0 in the final to lift the trophy.

The Intertoto Cup offered earlier all-French ties, supervised by UEFA between 1995 and 2008. Strasbourg beat Metz 2-0 in the 1996 semi-finals before winning the final, then exited in the UEFA Cup round of 32, while Lyon overcame Montpellier in the 1998 final but also fell short of the Europa League last 16.

Source: L'Équipe