Les Parisiens are in Marseille!

DESTINATION: MARSEILLE

Eight days after their comeback win over LOSC Lille on Matchday 24 of Ligue 1 and having enjoyed a full week's work, the large majority of the players met up in Saint-Germain-en-Laye this morning, before making their way to Roissy and Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport around 10:00.

A little over an hour later and having met up with the rest of the delegation, the squad's plane set off for a 90-minute flight filled with games, films, music, reading or recovery depending on the mood.

Around 12:45, Paris Saint-Germain set foot in Provence, where several fans from the local area had come to welcome them. Kylian Mbappé and co. then headed to their hotel, which would be Les Rouge et Bleu's basecamp for the afternoon, before having lunch and enjoying some rest. They will then make their way to the Vélodrome later in the day.

THE PRE-MATCH THOUGHTS

Before the 105th edition of Le Classique, several Parisiens spoke about the game at various points during the week. In the traditional pre-match press conference on Friday, Christophe Galtier was determined: "It's an important game; the two teams are very close in the league table. We're a group of competitors. I have players that are used to battling to get results. They're players who never give in. I see that every time they have to go out and get something, they're used to doing so. The younger ones follow their example."

Among those young players, motivation isn't hard to come by. "We've prepared well for this game because we've had a full week's preparation since the win over Lille,"  explained Warren Zaïre-Emery during the open training session at the Parc des Princes on Friday, when Paris's no. 33 and his teammates were cheered on by over 33,000 fans. "We'll do everything we can to make our fans, who can't be there, proud. We'll give everything to come away with a win."  This was echoed by El Chadaille Bitshiabu: "Ever since we were little, we've faced games like these, but as a professional, it's a whole other level! We can't wait for this game. Getting the opportunity to take part in matches like this is amazing."

Having been a Rouge et Bleu player since last summer, Fabián Ruiz quickly got the measure of the special atmosphere around clashes between Paris and Marseille, as he explained in an interview with the club: "Le Classique is a very important match for us players as well as for the supporters and everyone at the club. It will be a top-of-the-table clash, first place away to second place, and we're going to Marseille to get the three points. That's our goal."

THE KEY NUMBERS

Episode 105 of Le Classique, then, with the head-to-head record across all competitions sitting in favour of Paris Saint-Germain, who have recorded 47 wins, 23 draws and 34 losses against Les Olympiens. Whilst the stats are more balanced in Ligue 1, with 34 wins, 20 draws and 32 losses for the capital club in 86 encounters, Les Parisiens remain on a run of nine league games without defeat away to Marseille, with six wins and three draws since their 3-0 loss there on 27th November 2011.

After the reverse fixture was won 1-0 by Les Rouge et Bleu on Sunday 16th October 2022 at the Parc des Princes on Matchday 11 of Ligue 1 thanks to a Neymar Jr goal in the second minute of first-half stoppage time, with OM later getting their revenge in a 2-1 win in the last 16 of the Coupe de France on Wednesday 8th February at the Orange Vélodrome thanks to goals from Alexis Sánchez (pen. 31') and Ruslan Malinovskyi (57') despite Sergio Ramos's equaliser (45'+2), a glorious, top-of-the-table clash awaits us this evening.

So, having led the way in Ligue 1 since the start of the season, Paris Saint-Germain, who are on 57 points after 24 games, travel to their closest competitor, Olympique de Marseille, on 52 points. Will we see Les Rouge et Bleu extend their lead at the top of the table or the Provence-based side close the gap between themselves and Les Parisiens? Tune in just before 23:00 CET this evening to find out!