Lionel Messi gets his first taste of French football’s greatest rivalry this weekend as Ligue 1 leader Paris Saint-Germain travels to face Marseille on Sunday.
Hours after Messi’s old side took on Real Madrid in Barcelona’s Clasico, known as “Le Classic” at the Argentine Velodrome.
It is a rivalry that escalated into the early 1990s, when Marseille was the dominant force in French football and for a while in Europe.
These days Qatar-owned PSG reign supreme in France, even though they missed out on the Ligue 1 title to Lille last season and their performances this campaign have not always been convincing.
They have won seven of the club’s last eight meetings in all competitions and have lost only once to OM in the past decade.
That 1-0 loss in Paris at the start of last season hit by the pandemic came at a nearly empty stadium. This time there will be a full house at the velodrome as PSG aim to extend their 10-point advantage over Marseille, who are third and have a game in hand.
Messi scored twice for PSG in a 3–2 win over RB Leipzig in the Champions League mid-week.
All three of his goals so far have come in Europe in a Paris shirt. In fact he has played more minutes in the Champions League so far than in Ligue 1.
Kylian Mbappe, second goal scorer against Leipzig, has been a key player for Mauricio Pochettino’s side this season, while Neymar has struggled for form.
The Brazilian may return to the field from a adductor muscle problem where he was sent off as a hot climate in October 2017.
Marseille, who played Lazio in Thursday’s Europa League, have entertained this season under Argentine coach Jorge Sampaoli, but it remains to be seen whether they are able to compete with a PSG team who have played nine out of 10 leagues. I have won.
“It’s going to be a special occasion and a tough match,” said PSG midfielder Ander Herrera.
“They are in good form, and will have a little more than the usual three points at stake.”
Player to watch: Matteo Guendouicz
The 22-year-old moved to Marseille on loan from Arsenal to revive his career, which was halted in north London, where he was frozen by manager Mikel Arteta.
After a spell at Hertha Berlin last season, Guandouzzi now looks right at home under Sampaoli in Marseille and is thriving in a midfield role that allows him to advance and join the attack.
Gwendouzzi, who was a non-playing member of the France team in the recent UEFA Nations League final, scored one goal and scored two more in Marseille’s 4-1 win over Lorient last weekend.
Now he comes up against PSG, the club he supported as a boy and with whom he began his career as a youth before moving to Lorient at the age of 15.
key statistics
10 – Dimitri Payet has scored 10 goals and made 10 assists in Ligue 1 in 2021. According to Opta, the only other players in Europe’s top five leagues to score goals and assists this year are Karim Benzema (24 and 11) and Memphis Pay (16 and 11).
1 – The number of wins for Marseille against PSG in the last 10 years, in the last 23 meetings of teams in all competitions.
12 – Claude Puel’s Saint-Etienne is on a 12-game winless run. If they fail to beat Angers on Friday, they will equal their longest top-flight run to date without a win at 13 games, which dates back to 1988.
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