In the middle of Monday night, Paris Saint-Germain fans turned Roissy Airport into a small witch’s cauldron – more than 100 supporters made it clear when their favorites returned from the 3-0 away win at arch-rivals Olympique Marseille how important this result is for them . At around 3:30 a.m., they enthusiastically welcomed their heroes with Bengal fire, singing and lots of applause.
The euphoric reaction of the ultras, who were forbidden to travel to Provence by the prefecture there for security reasons, shows how relieved the capital is in reacting to the renaissance of their own team. Recently there had been little reason to be happy, Paris had lost four of the last five away games, plus the 0-1 home defeat in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 against FC Bayern.
But now the tumbling giant from the French capital seems to be finding its footing again. Coach Christophe Galtier, who has already been counted, also reacted emotionally: “We want to dedicate this win to our fans who couldn’t travel with us. The win is important, but the way we played is at least as important. “
Brazilian Neymar, who suffered an ankle injury, tweeted after the game: “A perfectly normal day in France,” he wrote – given his 22 wins out of the last 28 Classiques against the opposite pole from the south, which is hated in Paris, is an absolutely correct statement. However, the last meeting went to the Marseillais less than three weeks ago – the 2-1 in the cup round of 16 at the same place in the Stade Vélodrome had exacerbated the crisis at PSG a week after the defeat against Bayern.
And apparently led to Olympique being considered invulnerable. Although the best defender in the squad was missing in Chancel Mbemba due to a yellow card suspension, the Croatian coach Igor Tudor had his team defended extremely high – and thus offered the guests spaces that the Paris strike duo had only been waiting for: Like a “high-speed train with Mbappé as the train driver and Messi as conductor” (L’Equipe) PSG rushed over the hosts.
The OM defence, led by Manchester United loanee Eric Bailly, followed the music and watched in amazement as Mbappé scored his competitive goals of 199 and 200 for PSG – equaling Edinson Cavani’s club record; Incidentally, he has already scored nine goals against Marseille. Despite his obviously somewhat naïve tactics, Tudor was by no means insightful afterwards and attributed the defeat primarily to Mbappé’s exceptional class: “He’s a player from another planet.”
And Messi? After a few weeks of lethargy, he apparently felt like playing football again in the last second after his winning goal from a free kick a week ago in the dramatic 4: 3 home win against Lille, was constantly playable, prepared both Mbappé goals and scored in between – of course on preliminary work by the congenial partner – his 700th career goal in club games.
President Al-Khelaifi backs Galtier. But it will be tight – also because defender Kimpembe will be out until the end of the season
The victory increased PSG’s lead in the league back to eight points and cemented the managerial position for the time being. Galtier was relieved after the game, but admitted: “I have a close connection with my sporting director, with Luis Campos, and also with my president, who both support me constantly, because it is obviously a difficult phase right now.” President Nasser Al-Khelaifi replied: “We saw a great Paris Saint-Germain, I continue to have great faith in my coach and in my players.”
And yet there was another severe setback for the ten-time French champions in Marseille: defender Presnel Kimpembe tore his right Achilles tendon after almost a quarter of an hour without outside influence and will be out until the end of the season – Kimpembe of all people, who is largely responsible for the new solidarity with the fans is because a good two weeks ago after the embarrassing 1: 3 in Monaco he stepped in front of the curve alone to calm the worried and angry ultras.