Between Sébastien Bazin and PSG, the story is not over. Between 2006 and 2011, he was a shareholder via the Colony Capital investment fund, then president of PSG, then in decline. It was he who negotiated the sale of the club with the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar. He is now at the head of the Accor group, the club's jersey sponsor since last year.
The final, the club, the players, his managerial memories… Sébastien Bazin, who will be present in Lisbon to watch the Champions League final against Bayern Munich, is frank.
Where will you be Sunday night at 9 p.m.?
SÉBASTIEN BAZIN. In Lisbon in the stadium, with a mask on his face. The PSG adventure is still somewhat mine thanks to the decision taken ten months ago by the Accor group to put our logo on the PSG jersey. I have the feeling that I was at the start of this adventure with the sale of the club by Colony Capital to the Qataris and that I still am there today, in a different way, with Accor, its employees and its customers. When you are invited to a moment like this, you must not miss it. Because we will all remember where we were that day.
A Champions League final is a club president's dream. Would you have liked to be in Nasser Al-Khelaïfi's place?
Yes and no. Yes for the feeling of work accomplished. Because if the PSG is there today, it is thanks to him. In nine years, he has brought every stone to the building. No, because when I was president and shareholder of the club, I had a huge stomach lump. Every minute of every game was painful!
Nine years to finally reach the final, isn't that a long time considering the means deployed by the Qataris?
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No. Ask some English clubs, they are still waiting for it. It could have come last year, because they had the same qualities. Except they didn't have that group spirit. The pandemic that created this Final 8, in which they are all in the same place, for two weeks, like a World Cup, that changes everything. It is this cohesion that has been lacking at PSG in recent years. But a final is meant to be won.
Woe to the vanquished, therefore ...
I do not agree. I remember very well the Saint-Etienne final in Glasgow in 1976, it was beautiful. The team continued to grow afterwards and yet they lost.
What do you think of the formula for Final 8. Should it be perpetuated?
Ah yes, this is great. But with the public! Imagine, the supporters of the eight biggest European teams of the year, who find themselves in the streets of the same city…
Which PSG player impresses you the most?
Marco Verratti.
Even if he is often injured?
Yes. I don't know if he has three lungs… He's the one who brings the most to the center to distribute the ball. Like Blaise Matuidi before, for whom I had a professional and personal passion. He's a great man. But the one that stands out incredibly well at the moment is Marquinhos. It took three years to mature within six months.
You don't mention Mbappé or Neymar ...
Not because they are two of the four best players in the world, but for them to have the ball, it has to come from somewhere. It's like an orchestra: Mbappé and Neymar are the first violins, but they only exist if there are other musicians around them, with a conductor. Mbappé admits it: at the start, they thought that it was two that they could win. But the fact of saying and acknowledging that it does not work that way, that's what makes PSG in the final this year.
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Is PSG in its place?
Without a shadow of a doubt. I think PSG will win tomorrow night. He is in the five biggest European clubs, if not both. The other is Bayern, who for me have always been superior to Barça and Real. This final will be breathtaking.
You had a hollow nose ten months ago, when you decided to become the jersey sponsor of PSG ...
(Laughs) It's not like I don't totally know football! It was the right moment for Accor, we were launching a global brand, Accor Live Limitless (ALL). I wanted to associate it with sport. When we looked at the geographic coverage, between South America, the Middle East, Africa, it was the best choice. For the group, to have this mark on the jersey during this final, which will probably be watched by 1.3 billion viewers… I could not wish for better. Yes, a victory! Because the swimsuit, I also want to see it worn on the street.
In terms of economic benefits, what do you expect?
We measure the visibility of a brand. The Accor Live Limitless, which you can now find everywhere, on social networks, YouTube, on TV, in the newspapers, it is valued very well. After that, do people equate ALL with Accor and its loyalty program? I still have some work to do on this.
What is your best and your worst memory at the head of PSG?
The best thing is when Claude Makelele, who was at Chelsea, ended up saying yes to join PSG (Editor's note: during the summer of 2008) . He was my conductor during the Colony Capital period. The worst thing is the match against Sochaux, in 2008, when, on the last day, we risk going down to Ligue 2. Amara Diané puts this last goal at the end with this ball which does not even fit at 2 km / h! Leave as a trace of being the president who brought the club to Ligue 2, it was inconceivable.
