FC Barcelona is preparing for a commando operation this Wednesday at the Parc des Princes.
"Nothing is impossible", launched this Tuesday Ronald Koeman in a press conference on the eve of the round of 16 return against PSG and three weeks after the defeat (4-1) conceded in Catalonia.
On the side of PSG supporters, the wounds of the “remountada” of 2017 are more or less closed ...
"If we freak out today, we will freak out our whole life"
"Remontada"?
For some Parisian supporters, this word is a thing of the past.
An old story that no longer needs to be this Wednesday evening at the time of facing the club which has become the best enemy of the Porte d'Auteuil club.
“I think the context is completely different.
We are not in Barcelona, there is no audience.
The arbitration had a huge influence on the result.
Barcelona also have a different team, and less certainties "confides Yacine, 44, a supporter since the victory in the Coupe de France in 1982." Barça has also experienced some
upheavals
since that time and routs: Rome, Liverpool, Bayern ... I'm really confident, ”he adds.
"I have been a supporter for forty years, I know that there is no inevitability ... In short, I have no trauma" concludes this enlightened amateur.
Fred, a supporter since his premiere at the Parc des Prince in 1984, is also confident.
For him, the rout against Barça is so “unique in the history of football” that he relegated it to the rank of historical anomaly, something that cannot be repeated.
“It is not moreover a trauma.
I am much more disgusted today by the disaster against Manchester (Editor's note: 3-1 defeat at the Park in 2019 after winning 2-0 at Old Trafford) than by the
comeback
”, he confesses.
He points out that the victory against Dortmund last year was a turning point.
“The image of the players in the spans after qualifying will remain.
We went beyond the Indian sign, ”he explains.
Fred also has sporting arguments.
“It's not the same context in Barcelona either, they have fewer players capable of remobilizing people's minds.
Neymar has changed sides.
And Neymar and Braithwaite are not the same thing, ”ironically this sports fan in general.
"And finally we have a high level goalkeeper in Paris and that really changes everything," recalls Fred, referring to Kaylor Navas.
“I am serene.
Nobody seriously evokes a
comeback
this time, like four years ago, when the Barcelona press had hammered it for a week, the fear was born there, ”says Jérôme, also a historical subscriber.
"Yet I was in Barcelona on the day of the tragedy ... but it traumatized me less than Manchester," he said, too.
"We moved on as supporters", specifies this forty-something, who nevertheless recognizes a "very French" fear of losing.
“But there's no objective reason to freak out more than that.
Otherwise we will freak out our whole life, ”he insists.
"If we take a quick goal and back off, then the fear will come back ..."
Paul is more careful.
“There is a part of my head that tells me that it existed, so that it can start again.
Barça, we must always be wary of it.
What we saw, three weeks ago, it was not a great Barça, but it remains a sum of very good players… If they decide to play well it can hurt, ”confides this heritage curator in life.
"The
remountada
is one of my worst football fan memories," he recalls.
But this event ultimately strengthened his love of the football.
“That's what I like about football, it's thaumaturgical (editor's note, of the order of a miracle), that's what is great.
When the little one defeats the big one or the one who is supposed to lose wins ”, Paul is moved.
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PSG-Barcelona: not the slightest reason to be afraid
A sacred dimension that sometimes touches on superstition for some.
“Against Dortmund last year, a group was born.
We passed the curse of the 8th finals, as with Manchester.
It was no longer possible.
This match was unifying.
I think we will qualify tonight, ”analyzes Steve, a Parisian supporter who lives in Marseille.
A belief, however tarnished by the fear of a disaster scenario, as 4 years ago.
“We will see how Paris will approach the match.
If the scenario repeats itself, we step back, and we take a goal quickly.
Then there, fear will return ... "
"I will never be serene with this club again"
For Julien, a PSG fan, the trauma of the
comeback
is still very present.
“It really killed the soccer fan in me.
Since that day I no longer watch football outside of Paris matches ”.
For this young thirty-something, fan of PSG since 1994, March 8, 2017 is a date marked with a black stone.
“I will never be serene with this club again because of what happened.
The more improbable it is, the more we are able to do it, ”he commented.
“I have never seen images of the match again, I cannot.
The very word
remountada
has entered the common vocabulary and that teases me, ”adds the one who had wandered aimlessly in Paris for several hours after the 6-1 of shame.
"There are a lot of players who are still there, Kimpembe, Marquinhos, Verratti, Di Maria", remarks this professor in the civilian. "Two years later, there was Manchester and Mbappé was nevertheless there ... It's in my mind, so why shouldn't it be in the minds of the players?" And this seriously injured footballer concluded: "Honestly, for the wound to heal, we have to eliminate Barça and win the Champions League". To great ills, great remedies.
