It is a VIP area reduced to its simple expression that took place in the Luz stadium in Lisbon this Sunday. UEFA protocol requires, the Parisian delegation was only allowed 25 invitations to comply with the drastic instructions in the midst of an epidemic crisis. It is not much for such an event. The capital club therefore had to make tough choices.
As PSG celebrates its half-century, President Nasser Al-Khelaïfi has chosen to invite the first captain in the club's history, Jean Djorkaeff. For the occasion, the former defender was accompanied by his son Youri, who had lifted the first European trophy for Parisians in 1996.
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Among the distinguished guests, we expected to see appear in the stands, where the Lisbon club of Benfica usually plays, the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim al-Thani. But the owner of the Parisian club did not take a seat alongside UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who slipped at half-time to all the assistance he had seen "a very good game". Nasser Al-Khelaïfi took the trouble to come and apologize for his absence to the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and the former President of the Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy. But out of superstition, the Qatari preferred to occupy the seat which had brought him luck in the semi-finals against Leipzig, a little higher in the stadium.
Noël Le Graët and Nathalie Boy de la Tour
Longtime supporter of Paris, DJ Snake stirred behind his sunglasses alongside former judoka, Djamel Bouras.
The government had dispatched for this historic moment Jean-Michel Blanquer, Minister of National Education, Youth and Sports, and his Deputy Minister Roxana Maracineanu. The two representatives were accompanied by the French football staff, the president of the French Football Federation, Noël Le Graët, and Nathalie Boy de la Tour, president of the Professional Football League. The latter's pink dress also caused a sensation, recalling the color of Kylian Mbappé's shoes.
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To the left of the French officials, all surprised by the battle cry of the Bavarians on the lawn before kick-off, the PSG replacements got up at each action of theirs, remaining very discreet the rest of the time. It was on the Bavarian side that we shouted the loudest.