PSG crushed Nantes in Tel Aviv in 2022. JACK GUEZ / AFP
LE SCAN SPORT – Initially scheduled for early August in Bangkok, Thailand, the PSG-Toulouse Champions Trophy will be played this Wednesday in Paris. Explanations.
The year 2024 has only just begun but a trophy will already be awarded. PSG faces Toulouse this Wednesday (8:45 p.m.), at the Parc des Princes, as part of the Champions Trophy, this traditional duel between the French champion and the holder of the Coupe de France. Why now and in Paris? It’s simple. With the exception of the 2020 edition, played at the beginning of 2021 in Lens due to Covid, the Professional Football League (LFP) has chosen to relocate the Champions Trophy abroad since 2009 with an exhibition logic of French football internationally. North America, Asia, Europe, Africa… Last year, for example, Paris outclassed Nantes in Tel Aviv (4-0). This time, it was Bangkok that hit the jackpot. The meeting was initially scheduled to take place on August 5, before the first day of the French championship, as is customary.
Except that the Thai promoter the Thai organizer, the Fresh Air Festiva group, was wrong. We heard the news at the beginning of last June. “The Champions Trophy will not take place this summer in Thailand for reasons completely beyond the League’s control», indicated the president of the LFP, Vincent Labrune, to The Team . The former boss of OM also saw “a bad for a good. This will allow us to move it to a more favorable date, at the beginning of January.“. A date which, however, does not suit everyone, starting with the League, which was to receive €4 million in this affair, but also the Parisian and Toulouse players, who had to resume a few days earlier while the L1 clubs will only attack the competition next weekend, during the 32nd round of the Coupe de France.
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Honestly, I would have preferred to play in another stadium, it would have been more… neutral. But…
Carlos Martinez Novell
«For the location, we are working on three options, all abroad», added Mr. Labrune. There was indeed talk of Saudi Arabia, Qatar and even the Democratic Republic of Congo. Finally, for security and logistical reasons, neither of the two clubs wanted to deal with a long trip during this period, the LFP and the clubs fell back on France. The TFC obviously offered to host the meeting. Paris-SG too. The authorities could also have chosen an intermediate solution but all these beautiful people agreed on the Park, which will officially be a “neutral ground». «Honestly, I would have preferred to play in another stadium, it would have been more… neutral. But above all I am happy to play in France, I think we will have more supporters. I prefer to play in Paris with our fans than further away, without them», Indicates Carles Martinez Novell, who is playing the positive attitude card before this duel.
The Spanish coach will perhaps be less so, noting that PSG is undefeated on home soil since the defeat against Nice (2-3), mid-September, in Ligue 1. Two other teams have taken points in Paris since the start season, Lorient (0-0) during the first day of the championship and more recently Newcastle (1-1) in the Champions League. Note that TFC, modest 16th in the L1 standings, held PSG to a draw at the Stadium at the start of the season (1-1). At the time, Kylian Mbappé had just come out of the closet and Ousmane Dembélé had just signed. They had only played 30 minutes.
