2023-09-24 05:21:12
It was with great pleasure that Paris SG, accustomed to autumn soap operas, gave way this week to the serious crisis which shook Olympique de Marseille.
The Marseille club seriously faltered after a disappointing draw at the Vélodrome against Toulouse (0-0) last Sunday, but especially following a stormy meeting between managers and supporters associations on Monday.
If the implosion did not take place, President Pablo Longoria announcing Friday evening that he remained in his post, the case of some of the leaders is not clarified, while coach Marcelino, for his part, decided to throw in the towel by resigning.
It is therefore in a vagueness which is not at all artistic, with Jacques “Pancho” Abardonado as interim coach, that OM will present themselves on Sunday evening against the Parisian ogre.
Aubameyang and his teammates will want to build on their successful trip to Amsterdam on Thursday in the Europa League, where they were determined to prove on the pitch that the club was not going under, bringing home a good draw at the end of an encouraging performance (3-3).
“We had to stay united, at this moment when it was a storm. The whole group performed and gave everything,” explained Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, author of a double, after the match on Canal+.
Mbappé serene
PSG, for their part, is far from crushing everything in its path at the start of the season, and is also ranked behind Marseille in Ligue 1 (5th with 8 points compared to 4th with 9 points). He even remains, in the championship, with a defeat at the Parc des Princes, last Friday against Nice (2-3).
However, the club displays a certain serenity, from its leaders – more open to the press -, to the players – some of whom shine like the Vitinha midfielder -, including the coach Luis Enrique.
The standoff this summer between Mbappé and management around a possible free departure at the end of the season seems to have been digested by both parties. The French team striker has already scored a whopping eight goals in five matches.
The coach knows that he doesn’t have much room for error. “They will send me back” if the results are delayed, Luis Enrique said good-naturedly on Monday.
But by opening a new era for a club that has failed in recent years in the Champions League, by working to model a more attractive and coherent game, the coach perhaps has more time than Christophe Galtier, flanked by last season of three superstars, before the departures of Messi and Neymar.
PSG also ideally started its European campaign on Tuesday evening by dominating Dortmund (2-0) and taking the lead in its difficult group.
Obviously, a classico remains the first match marked by the supporters on the calendar of a season, and Paris cannot afford to do anything other than win on Sunday evening.
“When you arrive at a club you quickly realize the matches which particularly motivate the supporters, the players, the club. The classic is a match which is part of it, it is one of the most important of the season”, explained Luis Enrique on Saturday at a press conference.
The Marseillais “still haven’t lost in Ligue 1. They had a good match against Ajax, they’re a very good team”, commented the Parisian coach, believing that the extra-sporting situation “doesn’t did not cost” the Marseille players.
PSG needs the three points while adversity seems to be the order of the day this year on a national scale: Nice took the lead in the standings on Friday by winning against Monaco who were nevertheless convincing at the start of the season.
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