Paris Saint-Germain rose to the challenge in Sunday's Classique, beating Olympique de Marseille in style (1-0). Take a look back at this excellent win!
What could be better than a mouth-watering Classique against Olympique de Marseille to round out Ligue 1 Uber Eats's Round 11 in style? This was on the cards in the exceptional atmosphere of the Parc des Princes on Sunday evening. It was a game of great importance for Christophe Galtier, who had to deal with a number of absentees, leading him to concoct a new line-up with Fabian Ruiz in midfield, alongside Marco Verratti and Vitinha and behind the virtuoso triumvirate of Leo Messi, Neymar Jr and Kylian Mbappé.
A Classique always makes sparks fly, and there was electricity in every corner of the Parisian stadium for this very special fixture. The first few minutes set the scene: full contact, fierce challenges and ambitious surges towards goal. But it was our Rouge et Bleu who marked their territory in the first half by shaking the visitors' defence with high-flying team moves that were stymied only by some excellent work from OM 'keeper Pau Lopez. The Parc was deprived of the ecstasy of seeing goals for Leo Messi (3', 4'), Achraf Hakimi (5') and a Kylian Mbappé played in beautifully by the in-form Neymar Jr (19', 28').
Against a tough opponent, Les Rouge et Bleu could always count on their collective virtues to force the course of events and bounce back. Even when Danilo Pereira had to be replaced by Nordi Mukiele in the 25th minute, or when Leo Messi's free-kick missile hit the crossbar (35'). Nonetheless, our Parisians continued to push, without falling into the trap of allowing doubt to creep in.
Considering their high work-rate and all their efforts to bring the Parc des Princes faithful to their feet, our Parisians could not go back to the locker room with the match deadlocked at 0-0. The Mbappé-Neymar Jr duo took charge of reminding everyone of this fact, the Frenchman teeing up the Brazilian for a clinical first-time strike that drew a note from the far post on its triumphant course across the goal-line! (1-0, 45'+2).
Still as solid, committed and formidable in terms of tenacity after returning from the break, our players had to dig deep to resist the intense pressure imposed by their rivals. This sequence of the game showed another strength of our Rouge et Bleu: being able to stick together to defend their advantage at all costs. And then, as the attacking trio - who were proving unplayable with the ball at their feet - continued to push, the Parc held its breath in anticipation.
Especially since Christophe Galtier's men ended the game a man up after Gigot was shown a straight red for a violent foul on Neymar Jr (72'). In this context, there was no question of leaving the slightest crumb for the opponent. It was necessary to hold - and even better - punish this Marseille team.
And this is exactly what our players did until the end of the match, the final whistle bringing the impregnable Parc des Princes to raptures. Paris trump arch-rivals Marseille! A classic!