“
A fucking high peak
”.
This is how Christophe Galtier describes the shock of the 11th day of Ligue 1 which will pit the two best enemies of French football, PSG and OM, this Sunday evening (8:45 p.m.) at the Parc des Princes.
A top-of-the-table poster, a clash between the leader and the fourth (the Ligue 1 ranking here), and a little more than that.
A match apart, even if the Olympian supporters were not invited to the party.
"
It's a shame for football
," plagues the Olympian goalkeeper, Pau Lopez, also believing that "
it's never the right time to face PSG, even if they have problems
".
And God knows they have.
It falls as in Gravelotte.
To discover
Calendar and results Ligue 1
League 1 standings
We are less flashy, less brilliant, less dangerous.
Christophe Galtier
Already on the pitch, with three consecutive draws (Benfica twice and Reims).
"
We are less flashy, less brilliant, less dangerous
", acknowledged Galtier after Benfica last Tuesday (1-1), later emphasizing, D-2 before this Classic, that the absences and the sequence of matches (four in 10 days) are no strangers to this.
An uncertain time, Lionel Messi and Kylian Mbappé are in the group.
Sergio Ramos (suspended), Presnel Kimpembe and Nuno Mendes (injured), they will still be missing.
Which invites the 56-year-old technician to seriously think about putting his 3-4-3 on hold.
In fact, everything goes to the right that “Galette” will bet on a 4-3-3, as revealed on Saturday afternoon by
RMC
.
All while on the OM side, "
everyone is doing well, the players are positive, happy and have a lot of desire
", savors Igor Tudor.
"
We've been in a good moment for several weeks
," adds the Croatian technician, who was able to silence the whistles of his debut, despite a complicated start in C1 (defeats against Tottenham and Frankfurt) and the recent hitch against Ajaccio (1 -2) at the Velodrome.
Rumors, cases, media bombs
Still, if this Classic is boiling, tense on the Parisian side, it is also and above all for what is happening, what is being said outside the green rectangle.
From the Mbappé psychodrama to sand yachting, via the "penaltygate", the Campos/Henrique quarrel, the bickering within the women's team and now the "digital army", there is plenty to do... "
We have to have skills and experience.
When you are the coach of PSG, you are very exposed, I paid enough to know.
But this is very special!
It's every day
, ”plagues Galtier, regretting that journalists do not “
speak to him about football
”, too busy talking about extra sports.
"
And whatever I say, you don't believe me.
I have a lot of faults but I'm not lying to you
”, he adds, assuring that his group is “
not disturbed
” by rumors, affairs, media bombs.
Even Mbappé "
is doing very well
", he insists, while his discomfort is palpable ... and skilfully relayed, orchestrated by those around him.
Read also“Digital Army” at PSG: Can Kylian Mbappé request a breach of contract for serious misconduct?
In a word, if PSG have long been accustomed to the crises of November, the cocktail is even more indigestible this time, even if the Red and Blue are still undefeated since the start of the season (11 wins, 4 draws).
Between the extension of Kylian Mbappé in the spring and the arrival of the Campos / Galtier tandem in the offseason, the capital club dreamed of being normal, peaceful.
It failed… So much so that the Marseille club appears almost peaceful next door!
A peak...
In any case, the Marseillais land in Paris without pressure.
Not the same as that which weighs on their hosts in any case.
PSG have everything to lose, they have everything to gain.
The ten-time French champion has only lost once against OM since 2011. It was September 13, 2020 (0-1), at the Parc des Princes.
The end of a series of 20 matches without defeat against the great rival for Paris, which has won three of the four confrontations between the two teams since (3 wins, 1 draw) and which clearly dominates the whole of the history of the Classic (47 wins, 22 draws, 34 losses in 102 matches).
We have to keep our feet on the ground and we will see afterwards if we can win Ligue 1.
Paul Lopez
A native of… Marseille and former OM player, Galtier, more “
happy and proud
” than ever to coach PSG, is obviously wary of Alexis Sanchez and company, “
a team that presses hard, very high, very aggressive and who manages to thwart the first outings of the ball and to thwart the opponents
”.
Not failing to point out that "
it's unusual to have a club that has such a higher budget than the others
", like the comments made by Jurgen Klopp before Liverpool-Manchester City this Sunday (5:30 p.m.), Tudor does not rule out the idea of titillating the Parisian ogre for the title.
“
History teaches us that it is possible.
But I don't want to focus on that
, ”he slips,
mischievous.
"
We must take match after match and we will see at the end
, abounds Lopez
.
Before the first game of the season, no one would have thought that we would be there.
We have to keep our feet on the ground and we will see afterwards if we can win Ligue 1.
"
In summary, winning at the Parc des Princes would allow the Marseillais (4th, 23 pts), overtaken by Lens (4th, 24 pts) in the standings, to send a strong signal and return to Paris (1st, 26 pts) and Lorient (2nd, 26 pts), while PSG will aim to take a breath of fresh air in this heavy climate and "
make the supporters proud
", as Galtier slipped.
Match that counts double for both clubs.
