50 Legendary matches: Paris takes down the champions
As part of the club's 50th anniversary, PSG.FR is taking you back to some of the most iconic matches the Rouge-et-Bleu have played.
It wasn't the easiest of starts for new Rouge-et-Bleu coach Georges Peyroche, who had only taken charge of his first training session the day before title-holders Strasbourg came to town.
The Parisians were still without their Portuguese star Joao Alves, who was seriously injured early in the season, and Brazilian defender Abel Braga, who was consigned to the bench with adductor problems. Key man Mustapha Dahleb was back in the starting line-up, though, having recovered from a thigh strain that had sidelined him for a month-and-a-half.
The previous season Velibor Vasovic had taken charge of Paris and beaten future top-flight champions Strasbourg (2-1, 14 November 1978) with Carlos Bianchi getting the decisive goal. The Argentine forward was now in the visitors' ranks, and was hoping to make his mark on his return to his former stomping ground.
Some 36,000 fans watched an even start with Bianchi (4') and Joël Tanter (34') trying their luck from distance for Strasbourg. Paris Saint-Germain had a great chance to open the scoring, but Boubacar Sarr's shot was turned aside by the visitors' France international goalkeeper Dominique Dropsy (35').
Dropsy could do nothing about the hosts' second chance though: from Jean-Noël Huck's cross, Boubacar teed up Jean-François Beltramini, and he made it four goals in his last three home games with a fierce shot (1-0, 40').
The visitors from Alsace dominated the second half, but couldn't find a way past Dominique Baratelli. The local-born 'Titis' in the Paris side, Jean-Marc Pilorget, Thierry Morin, Eric Renaut and Jean-Claude Lemoult, led by example as they halted wave upon wave of attacks.
The end of the match was tense, and Boubacar and Raymond Domenech, who would join Paris 18 months later, were involved in a skirmish.
The final whistle came as a great relief for Peyroche, who started his four-year reign with a win, and he'll forever be known as the coach who brought the club's first major trophy, the 1982 Coupe de France.
It marked a third successive Paris win after Valenciennes (3-0, 19/10/1979) and Angers (2-1, 30/10/1979) and eased the club away from the relegation zone. Peyroche paid tribute to the caretaker bosses who had held the fort before his arrival: "Bravo to Pierre Alonzo and Camille Choquier, who had filled in before my arrival. It's their victory, they're the ones who put together the team to face Strasbourg. I'd also like to thank the players: there's courage to burn, heart, determination and great individuals in this Paris team."
Fifteen games into the season, Paris Saint-Germain had 15 points (N.B. two points for a win) for the sixth successive time at that stage since arriving in the top flight in 1974.
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN - RC STRASBOURG : 1-0 (1-0)
D1 - Round 15
Parc des Princes (Paris)
Goals: Jean-François Beltramini (41')
PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN: Baratelli - Pilorget, Morin, Renaut, Garceran - Lemoult, Huck, Bathenay - Boubacar, Beltramini, Dahleb (Fernandez 70'). Coach: Georges Peyroche
RC STRASBOURG: Dropsy - Marx, Jodar (Bracci 80'), Specht, Domenech - Deutschmann, Decastel, Piasecki - Tanter, C.Bianchi, Wagner. Coach: Gilbert Gress