When we don’t have what we like, we like what we have! In the absence of the “King of Ireland”, it will therefore be against the “last of the Belgians” that PSG will find the lawn of the Parc des Princes this Friday evening (7 pm). Four months after qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund (2-0), it was to be the Irish of Shamrock Rovers, the most successful club in the country with 17 championship titles and 25 national cups, d ” inaugurate the first game in the world according to Porte de Saint-Cloud. The Covid-19 decided otherwise.
Forced to observe a period of about fourteen upon their return to Dublin, the Irish finally gave up their trip to the capital. And Paris was forced to find a replacement. Not an easy task, both in terms of timing and available opponents. Between the impossibility of going on a date to the clubs which have resumed competition (Editor’s note: in England, Italy, Spain, Portugal or Germany) just as much as those held by strict sanitary standards, or even to French people, often reluctant to serve as sparring partners, fallback solutions were not legion.
Scotland is already on the program, next Tuesday with Celtic Glasgow, it will be Belgium who will open the ball this Friday with Waasland-Beveren in a match in the original format of four times thirty minutes.
A club little appreciated in Belgium
The dismissal of French coach Arnault Mercier in February leaves little room for doubt: Waasland-Beveren has not shone with its results this season. Still beaten (5-0) this weekend in friendly by Zulte Waregem, the red lantern of the Jupiler League stood out above all by its legal action which paralyzed the Belgian championship and tarnished its popularity rating a little more. flat country.
“I do not know if it is the most hated club in the championship, but it is certainly not far from it,” explains a Belgian agent on condition of anonymity. He was present in all the scandals of recent years. This season, for example, he had to be relegated when the championship was stopped with the crisis. However, its leaders appealed to the arbitral tribunal, the CBAS, which agreed with them.
“Only, the League which is supposed to reinstate them refuses to do so, there is a real problem,” continues the agent. Waasland-Beveren refused to attend an extraordinary league board. All this will not improve his relations with the other teams. “Not a problem for PSG, which will not find against it more resistance than against Le Havre (9-0) last Sunday.
The avalanche of goals could even be greater than last weekend at the Océane stadium. It is indeed in an original format of four times thirty minutes that the Parisians will play this second test match, probably marked by the returns of Layvin Kurzawa and Juan Bernat. A will of Thomas Tuchel who, after having given 45 minutes of play to almost all the players present in Le Havre, would like to increase in power by offering this time to his troops an hour of play. Tuesday, on the occasion of the last friendly match against at Celtic Glasgow, Parisians will return to a normal format of two times forty-five minutes.
200 caregivers invited
The club put slightly more than 4,000 tickets on sale at the start of the week (the maximum quota of 5,000 includes players, staff and other accredited people). The places sold between 15 and 60 euros were primarily intended for subscribers and members of the MyParis loyalty program, Monday. Wednesday and Thursday, the general public was able to buy some tickets initially intended for partners. PSG warned ticket buyers that the mask would be mandatory and that they would be asked to respect the distancing.
Signs have been set up in the Park’s walkways and hydroalcoholic gel will be available before entering the gallery. Spectators will be placed in small groups of 1 to 10 separated by two armchairs. The lower part of the Borelli and Paris grandstands will be open, as will the Auteuil bend where the ultras will be gathered as well as 200 AP-HP caregivers invited by the PSG. They will be greeted upon arrival and will be given a personalized t-shirt. A renewed operation for the PSG-Celtic Glasgow match on Tuesday.
