Six and a half years since it hadn't happened.
Twenty-three matches exactly that Paris had not completed a Champions League match at the Parc des Princes without scoring a single goal.
Tuesday evening, at the final whistle from Mr. Orsato, Marquinhos is nevertheless like crazy in the stands.
A few meters below, his partners have just lost 1-0 against Bayern Munich in the quarter-final second leg of the C1.
Wrapped in his blue jacket, the captain injured in the adductors can no longer stay in place.
He screams his joy, bangs on the seats like an enraged percussionist, falls into the arms of one of his neighbors and rushes into the bowels of the stadium.
At the bottom, he finds Kylian Mbappé, Presnel Kimpembe and Idrissa Gueye who have turned the table of a crazy locker room into a dance floor where to celebrate the feat.
Their feat.
That of being invited for the second consecutive year in the last four of the Champions League.
That, above all, to have released the defending champion, strong, but especially as a team.
FOR PLEASURE đź’Ą https://t.co/bSMTdJxVvA pic.twitter.com/HPKKU1x197
- Paris Saint-Germain (@PSG_inside) April 13, 2021
This PSG, which has long been summed up as a sum of individualities, a group of stars in which everything is devoted to the influence of the Neymar-Mbappé tandem, has certainly found its reference match on the collective level on the occasion of these quarter-finals.
"In terms of self-giving, solidarity and complementarity in efforts, we had not yet seen that," explains the former Parisian JĂ©rĂ´me Rothen, who officiated at the microphone of RMC Sports on Tuesday.
It has often been said that PSG had flaws, especially mental ones, in difficult times.
There, that was not the case.
It was not all perfect, but I felt a collective strength and a willingness to transcend rare.
"
The fear of elimination and the quality of Bayern, of course, have helped to raise the level of demand for everyone.
But nothing would be possible if the seeds of this cohesion had not been planted beyond the ground.
What if the leaders and the group of South Americans, who maintain friendly relations in the city, had not been able to carry everyone in their wake.
This link, which had played a nasty trick on them at the start of the season during these holidays in Ibiza marked with the seal of the Covid, can also be an antidote against negative events.
This time, the Fantastic 3 did not balk at the task
Last week in Munich, Marquinhos showed his sense of sacrifice when, injured, he found the strength to score at the Allianz Arena.
Tuesday evening, for lack of being on the lawn, he did not cease to encourage and deliver his instructions from the stands.
But it is in the field that the association of benefactors has been most effective.
The first symbol of this incredible solidarity, the work provided by the triplet Neymar-Mbappé-Di Maria.
Often singled out - rightly - for their lack of involvement in defensive tasks and the imbalances they cause in the block, the Fantastic 3 did not balk at the task this time.
In the oven and at the mill, Neymar was even, according to Opta, the Parisian to touch the most balls (85) and to play the most duels (30).
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"
Benjamin Pavard, for his part, noted that Kylian Mbappé had certainly "attacked" but also "defended" and "had put himself at the service of the collective".
Like everyone.
Those whose job it is, like the Paredes-Gueye pair, who recovered and intercepted everything that moved.
But also the most "in danger" of the first leg, like Colin Dagba who this time has not given up, or very little, at Kingsley Coman.
Or Danilo who, again forced to retreat in central defense, was the most effective PSG player, winning in particular all his aerial duels.
This explains why, despite the imperative of result imposed on Bayern, the Parisians were much more effective in the duels (66 won) than the Bavarians (56).
“Seeing Neymar, Di Maria or Mbappé defend, it allows a better collective replacement, a better recovery of the ball, analyzes Patrice Lair, the former coach of the PSG women's D1.
It brings additional strength and we feel a very tight-knit team.
It gives a real strength that we did not feel even when they reached the final last year.
"
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This is proof, without doubt, that Paris has taken a step forward.
And that this team begins to bear the imprint of Mauricio Pochettino.
In any case, this is the thesis defended by JĂ©rĂ´me Rothen, "convinced that something has happened with the arrival of this new coach at the head of the team".
"It is no coincidence that PSG is able, in such a short time, to achieve this kind of performance," he continues.
Tuesday, I did not see one disassociate himself from the others, not make the effort.
This had already been the case in the first leg, against Barcelona or against Lyon… Tuchel had tried, it had sometimes worked.
But more often than not, the team was cut in half.
"
Not this time. As if everyone had learned the lessons of the past to put themselves at the service of the collective, neither Idrissa Gueye nor especially Neymar - both under suspension for the half - received a warning against Bayern. “If Paris wants to continue its path in the Champions League, it is obliged to make this base its ordinary, finishes Jérôme Rothen. It is now that we will see if they are capable of not being caught by the patrol. “By displaying the same rigor and the same state of mind against Saint-Etienne, Sunday in the league, or next Wednesday against Angers, in the Coupe de France.