Oct 01, 2015 by Alex Baker
Known in France as Le Classique, Sunday’s derby will see 15th place Marseille face off against league leaders and reigning champions Paris Saint-Germain. The match comes in the wake of crowd trouble that saw Marseille’s match against Lyon suspended, resulting in several sections of Marseille’s home ground, the Stade Velodrome, being closed for the game against promotion side Angers last weekend.
With the French authorities and sporting press continuing to focus on Marseille’s crowd trouble, the main supporters' groups for the team have decided to boycott this weekend’s Classique. It may be just as well, as watching this struggling Marseille side taking on powerhouse PSG might not make for pleasant viewing.
The crowd trouble with Lyon is just the latest incident in an early season fraught with difficulties for Marseille... Read More
Aug 10, 2015 by Alex Baker
Ligue 1 Champions Paris Saint-Germain kicked off the new season on Friday with a 1-0 win away at Lille. The champions got their campaign underway without Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who was deemed unfit, and without new signing Angel Di Maria. They ultimately had to do without midfielder Adrien Rabiot as well, after the 20-year-old was shown a red card in the 28th minute.
The Parisians eventually took the lead about 15 minutes into the second half when Lucas Moura raced onto a through ball from Blaise Matuidi, rounded Lille keeper Vincent Enyeama, and slotted home the game’s only goal. PSG have a habit of dropping points on opening day and for a time it looked like they might again. But even with a man advantage Lille were incapable of truly troubling... Read More
Apr 06, 2015 by Alex Baker
As with practically everything else this season, it took Paris Saint-Germain longer than you would have expected to take the lead against Marseille in Sunday’s Classique. In fact there were long periods in the first half when it looked like it would never happen.
Marseille took the lead right on the half hour mark through Andre-Pierre Gignac. Blaise Matuidi equalized for Paris just five minutes later, Gignac restored Marseille’s lead just minutes before the break.
As the teams headed into the locker room for halftime, it felt as if PSG had just been dealt a demoralizing blow. And on the evidence of the majority of their performances this season, it wasn’t entirely clear whether they’d be capable of coming back against this Marseille side that had been stronger throughout the... Read More
Apr 02, 2015 by Alex Baker
It’s taken a long time but Paris Saint-Germain, strong favorite to retain the Ligue 1 title going into this season, has finally settled atop the league standings. Part of the reigning champion’s inability to top the table this season has stemmed from its own underperforming. A creeping sense of jadedness has underpinned much of what we’ve seen from the Parisians this term. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was also out injured for a key stretch of the season, with Edinson Cavani all-too-often failing to fire in his absence. Far too many matches PSG should’ve won have ended in draws. Apart from the dramatic way in which they knocked Chelsea out of the Champions League, there’s been precious little about PSG to get excited over this season.
But the flipside of that is that... Read More
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