That's it! If there was an ounce of suspense, a semblance of veil to lift on the identity of the future champion of France Ligue 1, it flew this Saturday evening in the sky of the Meinau. It was, of course, only a matter of time. The six points lead he counted on his runner-up Lensois, combined with a goal difference more than favorable (13 goals), left no doubt that PSG had every chance of formalizing its new coronation in Alsace. Paris certainly did not deliver the most spectacular match of its season this Saturday night at the Meinau. After leading to the mark He wasn't even able to hold his advantage on the scoreboard. But he has too often been criticized in recent months for not doing the job to find something to complain about this historic coronation evening, as critical and disappointing as it was in its content.
Despite a team amputated of eight of its executives, Paris was indeed able to win in Alsace an 86th point, synonymous with coronation. As if they needed to strengthen ties loosened by the succession of affairs, most of the wounded, Marquinhos, Ashraf Hakimi, Presnel Kimpembe, Nordi Mukiele, Fabian Ruiz or Nuno Mendes were united in the stands alongside their president Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. All stood up, as one man, when Leo Messi scored his record 496th club goal on a Kylian Mbappe serve shortly before the hour mark. All, too, began to anguish and find the time long when Kevin Gameiro, a former PSG house, restarted the match a quarter of an hour from the denouement. Nothing serious, finally this too long and painful 37th day ending with a night of celebration.
As everyone knows, this success will not detract from this trying, disappointing exercise, marked by the succession of affairs, under-performances and inadequacies that have marked it with the seal of failure in the Champions League and the France Cup. Should it spoil the fun, the celebration or the pride of having achieved what, for the moment, no one had achieved? The Greens, who are certainly no longer really Greens, nevertheless remain in history and the general unconscious a legend that it was not easy to match last season. Becoming the only – and therefore forever the first – club in France to cross the ten coronation mark should certainly have been accompanied by an effervescence like no other.
For many, it will be celebrated in restraint, even if Paris will forever remain the first club in history to have been crowned champion by remaining at the top of the standings from the first to the last day. This eleventh coronation for Paris is accompanied by figures that turn heads. He is the ninth for Marco Verratti who, even more than last season, becomes the most capped player in the history of the France championship. These are the first laurels in the pros for Warren Zaire-Emery who, after being the youngest PSG player to start a L1 match, the youngest also to find the net, seems, from the top of his 17 years, also promised to collect titles. It is the second for Christophe Galtier, two years after the one won with Losc. The first had made him the best coach in L1. This one will bring him only relief and a bit without consolation. There are now ninety minutes left in Paris, next Saturday against Clermont, to finish in style, make the show, even Kylian Mbappé establish his first place in the scoring rankings and enjoy, probably a last of the seven-time Ballon d'Or before moving on.