They don't love each other!
Barcelona-PSG, it is also the match of an immense rivalry, where the overflowing passion and the defense of the interests of each one provoke hard and strong words.
“We hate the PSG, explains a socio-historical.
In Spain, there is of course the enemy Real Madrid, unsurpassable.
But in Europe, Paris is the club we reject the most.
"
This Monday, on his arrival on Catalan soil, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi (NAK), the president of PSG, was insulted the instant he crossed the lobby of his hotel.
The supporters, massed on the side behind security barriers, threw "cowardly Messi, thief!"
"Or even" sons of p ... ".
Slippages which recall the immediate tense context (the match, the future of Messi) but also the past algarades, for ten years or so.
If in the French capital, no leader will dare to speak with this virulence (this is not the style of the house), Al-Khelaïfi and Leonardo have memories.
In private, they have not stopped denouncing since 2012 the methods of the Catalan club, too political behind the scenes and too voracious in the transfer window.
PSG's proximity to Real Madrid annoys
Barça carried out several takeovers which failed on Parisian executives: Thiago Silva, Marquinhos and Marco Verratti were announced with insistence in Catalonia, multiplying the covers of local newspapers with the blaugrana jersey on the shoulders.
An overdose that ended up irritating the Parisian staff, ulcerated by this muted harassment since 2017.
That summer, the rivalry took on a new dimension.
With the buyout of the Neymar clause for 222 million euros and his departure for Paris, hypocritical good manners and the diplomacy of circumstantial words have shattered between the two clubs.
With at the center of the debates, the president of the Spanish Football League, Javier Tebas, denouncing the PSG with often rude or vulgar expressions.
“They don't care about the system.
We caught them pissing in the swimming pool, ”said the leader, among others, qualifying Parisian policy as“ financial doping ”.
In Barcelona, the proximity of PSG to Real Madrid, through the NAK-Florentino Perez axis, also feeds local wrath.
In front of the cameras, the two clubs make boyfriend-buddy even if in the corridors of UEFA, the White House is trying everything to harden financial fair play, which necessarily penalizes Paris more than Madrid.
In the background, the fate of Kylian Mbappé, a major stake, between the two European competitors.
He plays in Paris but the Spanish capital readily imagines him at the Bernabeu on weekends.
By staying in Paris, Neymar puts the souk in Catalonia
In the absence of being able (still) to attract the French world champion, Barça tried to repatriate Neymar in 2019. This true-false transfer was the soap opera of the summer.
Messi really wanted to find his Brazilian friend.
Its leaders pretended to try, knowing that the operation was financially impossible.
A political maneuver that enraged Paris and ultimately turned against the then president.
Still, this umpteenth episode of power and influence war around the personality of Neymar has put a part in the machine.
Especially by staying in Paris, the brilliant number 10 is now in the souk in Catalonia.
Not for his trials with his former club in order to receive past bonuses but because now he wants to find Messi… in France.
And the Brazilian is the type to insist.
He said it on Argentine television, repeated it at the club and like a contagious virus, the idea spread to each floor, forcing Leonardo, Angel Di Maria or Mauricio Pochettino to give him pledges by completing his offensive with the six-fold Golden Ball.
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One way to register among the powerful who can welcome the best player in the world as to support Neymar's desires to tell him how much his word counts.
Not to mention that Messi, in fine, could be seduced by the idea of ending his European career with Neymar in Paris.
He played his whole adult life in Barcelona and the day he left he would go to Paris?
One can imagine the anti-PSG feelings in Barcelona if such a scenario happened.
As we assume the disgust of the hosts if the formation of Marquinhos and Mbappé wins this Tuesday evening or qualifies on March 10.
It is possible that this rivalry will have a bright future ahead of it, again.