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Flamenco, merchant and headquarters of a historic sporting event: Messi arrived in Bruges to debut in the Champions League with the PSG shirt

2021-09-15T13:56:31.240Z


How the medieval city that closes its bars at 10:30 at night prepares for the debut of Paris Saint Germain. That, when Messi, Neymar and Mbappé do not play, the three stars who had never visited it.


Maria Laura Avignolo

09/15/2021 10:30

  • Clarín.com

  • sports

Updated 09/15/2021 10:48 AM

It is one of the oldest and most beautiful European medieval cities and probably the first that invented the notion of the market, the Stock Exchange and letters of credit, the one that welcomes Paris Saint Germain for its great match with Bruges, the local team, to a Champions League date.

From tomorrow it will also go down in history as the place where Leo Messi debuted

 for his Parisian club at the highest event on the continent. A new chapter for its long history. The beginning of another adventure that for PSG has only one objective: the final of the Champion League in 2022 in Saint Petersburg and the promotion of the World Cup in Qatar, their country of origin.

Flemish, merchant, with its cobbled streets and with so many channels that they call it the Venice of the North, Bruges received PSG and its golden trident -Messi,

Mbappé

and Neymar- as on a day of great parties. The Star Wars begins here in Bruges. PSG are one of the favorite clubs to win that tournament and Bruges rarely has the honor to host them.

Its three stars did not know the city

, where they arrived after having made a 20-minute trip on a plane, from Paris to Ostend airport.

Despite the rain, they went to train at the stadium, which is called Jan Bredel.

It has been baptized with that name to

honor the memory of a Flemish hero, who rose up in the 14th century against the oppressive regime of King Philip the Fair

, coincidentally, based in Paris.

When PSG arrived in Bruges in its characteristic blue bus from Ostend airport, this city sleepy with tourists due to the pandemic woke up.

The stadium was waiting for him for his first training session and fans with Argentine flags chanted Messi's name.

30,000 spectators will be there tonight, including 1,500 Parisians

.

Although the great love of Bruges is cycling.

The three galactics: Messi, Neymar and Mbappé, recognizing the Bruges stadium Photo: AFP

Leo Messi will play with another shirt that is not Barcelona's for 90 minutes and with the number 30 and not 10 on the back.

There were 22 PSG players selected to face “Brugge” this Wednesday night.

There will be neither Angel de Maria, who has been suspended, nor Marco Verrati

, injured in his left knee.

But the list includes Navas, Donnarumma, Letellier, Hakimi, Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Mbappé, Paredes, Icardi, Neymar, Danilo Pereira, Wijnaldum, Herrara, Diallo, Messi, Draxler, Kehrer, Mendes, Dine Edimmabe, Bitshiabu, Allolah.

Bruges on the move: one of the typical markets in the city.

Brugge's team takes it with humor

.

Simon Mignolet, the club's goalkeeper, said that they had fun with the goalkeeping coach. ”We

have a machine that shoots the ball, to work.

But she doesn't do it like Messi

.

It is not easy to resemble what he does.

It is not possible with a machine ”, he admitted laughing.

“I played against many great attackers but for me Messi is the strongest.

I am not nervous but excited about the idea of ​​playing

.

We are not going to look at them as with boyish eyes in the hall because, in that case, we already lost.

We know that they have many individualities.

But we work all week to defend ourselves together and have a plan that will hurt them ”, acknowledges goalkeeper Mignolet.

Goalkeeper Simon Mignolet says he is excited to face Messi and PSG Photo: AFP

"Collective order of the planet"

In the classic press conference, Mauricio Pochettino, the coach of PSG, surrendered with a smile in Bruges, before the demand that Leo Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Neymar be in the game.

I will have to add to everyone's collective excitement to see these three together.

 I fell surrendered to the collective request of the planet of soccer ”, said the coach of Argentine origin.

Winning the Champion, which starts today in Bruges, is not only PSG's goal: its strategy is at the heart of Qatari diplomacy, which has assembled a billionaire team to accompany the sport with its new repositioning in the world and especially , in the Middle East.

From negotiations with the Taliban to being a credible interlocutor for Westerners and mediator, if necessary.

PSG is one of the great legs of that mission for the next World Cup in Qatar.

Bruges, cosmopolitan and medieval 

Declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO for its immaculately well-maintained historic center,

just 20,000 people live there but there are 117,000 inhabitants in its surroundings

.

Bruges, 3 and a half hours from Paris by car, has enormous economic importance thanks to its port, which is connected to the city via a canal, after losing its access to the sea in 1050.

The typical Flemish facades of Bruges.

The steps on the roofs defined social class: the more steps, the richer the family.Photo: Noel Smart

Land of innovators, “entrepreneurs”, great merchants,

all the bureaucrats and great officials of the European Union are trained at its prestigious College of Europe

.

From former Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clerg, today Facebook's number two to Marina Wheller, the ex-wife of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, most of today's European leaders passed through their classrooms.

Cosmopolitan since its foundation, Bruges received Portuguese merchants who came from peppers and other spices in the 15th century.

The Basques brought iron, commodities, and even established their own commercial consulate.

But it was wool and textiles that made their trade grow.

From there come their lace or "laces", which were part of the trousseau of queens and brides and the tradition is still maintained.

Rich, bourgeois and with a militia, the population rose with the Count of Flanders against France, which ended in the Battle of Golden Spurs.

The statue of Jan Breydel can be seen not only in the Great Market square but in the stadium that bears his name.

The militia remained a paramilitary body, with its own weapons and armor, depending on the status of its family.

In the 17th century Bruges fell but in the 12th century it began its resurrection to become the first tourist destination for rich French and British people.

The Germans occupied it but did not bombard it in either WWI or WWII until its liberation by Canadian troops.

With its intact medieval architecture and commercial sense,

the city is visited by 7 million tourists per year

.

The Church of Our Lady is the second tallest building in the city and there are the Madonna and Child, the only sculpture by Michelangelo that can be seen outside of Italy.

The typical little streets of Bruges leading to the main square Photo: Noel Smart

Touring it is great pleasure in a largely pedestrian area and with bicycles that slow down before the passage of people.

The historical monuments, the beautiful flower and vegetable market, the boat rides through the canals, the shopping as elegant and refined as Paris and New York, the art and antique shops, the jewelers as the former capital of diamonds that finally He won Antwerp, the cafes on the canals and a ride in a horse-drawn carriage to feel like in another century.

You can see the Salvador Dalí exhibition or that of Van Eyck.

At 10:30 at night, Bruges shuts down.

The bars serving their famous beers close and the latest bikes disappear into the nooks and crannies of its intact medieval streets.

They rest, except today, when the game starts at 9 pm and in Bruges no one sleeps.

Bruges, Belgium.

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Source: clarin

All news articles on 2021-09-15

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