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this Paris Saint-Germain which no longer frightens the big clubs

With a leading trio tightened in three points at the dawn of the final day of the French championship, fans of suspense are served. Lille has the best card, with one point ahead of Paris SG and three over Monaco, but each of these three clubs can still win at the final whistle on Sunday 23 May around 11 p.m. A great consolation for football lovers, at the end of a season devastated by the empty stands and the defection of Mediapro.

Not sure that the Emir of Qatar, indirect owner of Paris SG through an investment fund, tastes this uncertainty. A second or third place, plus a disappointment in the Champions League with the elimination in the semi-final against Manchester City is not likely to satisfy in the Gulf. Because if the European course of the Parisians is not infamous – they eliminated Bayern and Barça in quarter and eighth – it is more worrying on the French level.

→ PORTRAIT. Marquinhos, exemplary captain of Paris-Saint-Germain

Of the six possible matches against their three challengers designated since the start of the season, Lille, Monaco and Lyon, the Parisians have won only once (in Lyon, 4-2). Sovereign against the little ones, the stars of Paris SG disunite themselves against the big ones to whom they no longer frighten. “ Before, players from other clubs had their photos taken with the PSG guys, hoping to take as few goals as possible. Now, they know that the king is weakened, that we can bite him, and that gives wings ”, explains Dominique Séverac, who has followed step by step for years the club of the capital on behalf of the newspaper The Parisian.

Eight league games lost

This was seen from the start of the season after the final lost in August in the Champions League, with two first losses in a row against Lens and Marseille, who announced six more. Eight defeats over the season, almost one in five games! In the last few seasons, they won or drew even when they played poorly. They got away with a stroke of genius or a stroke of luck at the last minute. Or took advantage of the tiny relaxation or lack of concentration of the opponent, too happy to have contained the ogre until then.

This analysis is shared throughout tweets and televised interventions by Mickaël Madar, former Parisian player and consultant on Canal +. April 4, after the Parisians bowed on their lawn to the Lille, he sounded the charge. “They are no longer scary, they even sometimes cause pity”, he said then, proclaiming his interpretation of Parisian evil: an agglomeration of talented millionaires unable to defend a jersey.

→ PORTRAIT. Keylor Navas: the late recognition of the PSG goalkeeper

Dominique Séverac does not believe in this explanation, according to him “Populist”, and abundantly relayed by a football community too happy to see the injured giant. ” Careers are short and players know that they will only be remembered for the titles they have won. This championship title and this Cup, they all want them, he asserts. When we follow them with a magnifying glass, we see that they all play hard, except for one or two perhaps ”.

“One of the most beautiful teams in Europe”

There remain the accounting consequences of these points lost in the face of big teams. In the event of victory against Brest, with or without the title of champion of France, the Parisian club would end the year with a total of 82 points, against 91 in 2018 and 93 the previous season 2019 (1). This arithmetic is very important in the eyes of specialists, almost as much as the classification itself, to measure the impact of a club in its own championship. And it makes the march less high for Monegasques, Wednesday May 19 (at 9:05 p.m., on France 2) in the final of the Coupe de France.

Depending on whether they see the European semi-finalist Paris SG evolving in front of them or the one they have dominated twice in the league, the situation is different for the Monegasques. Niko Kovac, the Monegasque coach, not really scared, chose to base his confidence on these two contradictory points. “Paris is the most beautiful team in France, one of the most beautiful in Europe, he explained on Sunday the 16th, on the evening of the penultimate day. But this season, we’ve played them twice. We will be outsiders, but Paris is under pressure. I believe in it a lot ”.

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They can still lose it all … or win it all

This is true on the Monegasque side as on the Parisian side: the two opposing opponents in the final of the Coupe de France, Wednesday, May 19, can not only lift this Cup, but also be crowned champions. For this, the Monegasques must win widely, Sunday 23 in Lens, on the last day of Ligue 1, and benefit from an improbable double defeat from Lille to Angers and Paris to Brest. The most likely is therefore that the title is played between Lille and Parisians. If the first win in Angers, they take the trophy to the North, whatever the result in Paris. If they lose when Paris draws, or if they draw when Paris wins, the title will be Parisian.

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