On Sunday 23 August, the capital of Portugal hosts the final of the Champions League, UEFA’s biggest soccer cup. It will oppose in Lisbon, Bayern Munich, five-time winner to PSG, club of the French capital.
PSG are the 5th French club to reach the final of the most prestigious European Cup after Reims (1956 and 1959), St-Etienne (1976), Marseille (1991 and 1993) and Monaco (2004).
The match will take place behind closed doors at the Luz Stadium in Lisbon but in the presence of the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, the President of the FFF, Noel Le Graet and the French Minister of Sports, Roxana Maracineanu. However, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will be in front of the small screen as they announced at the press conference at Fort de Brégançon while advising supporters to do the same. Some of them still made the trip to Portugal, around thirty gathered at the entrance to the players’ hotel.
In order to best comply with health measures, there will be no Fan Zone in Paris but supporters can meet in a cafe or at home and then on the Champs-Elysées in case of victory. A retransmission on a giant screen will take place at the Parc des Princes where 5,000 supporters (subscribers, young people from disadvantaged neighborhoods and a few VIPs) are invited by the Parisian club. The Prefecture, for its part, took the necessary measures to avoid excesses, as last Tuesday during the victory against Leipzig (3-0) where thousands of people gathered on the Champs-Elysées, 37 were arrested, 27 referred to the ransacking of luxury boutiques on avenue Georges V. For the final, 17 metro stations neighboring the district are closed and a total staff of 3,000 members of the police will be mobilized to “secure” “businesses and establishments” from the avenue. In addition, any gathering will be prohibited 2 hours after the match. With the Covid-19 epidemic rebounding, the health system is reinforced in the perimeter for the evening with the wearing of a mask, the establishment of prevention points and 20,000 masks distributed, penalties for non-compliance with the rules. For this unprecedented final, the supporters gave each other an unmissable meeting where they passed on their passion from father to son with the goal of victory.
Who is the PSG which celebrated its 50th anniversary on August 12?
The Paris Saint-Germain Football Club was founded on August 12, 1970. It was born from the merger of the Stade Saint-Germanois (club in the city of Saint-Germain-en-Laye) and the Paris Football Club and played in the 2nd division. From his first season, he finished champion of France and reached the elite in 1971. After being relegated to D3 in 1972, he was promoted to D2 the following year where he was led by creator Daniel Hechter, then by Francis Borelli.
Since its foundation in 1970, the Parisian club has known 13 different logos, the first of which has been kept for 2 years, highlighting the motto of the City of Paris, “Fluctuat nec mergitur” with a boat sailing on the water, the tower Eiffel, the cradle (retired in 2013) and the fleur-de-lys appear in 1972.
It was also in 1973 that the club played its first official D2 match at the Parc des Princes, whose renovation which began in 1967 has just been completed. Property of the City of Paris, it was built in 1897 and renovated several times, the last of which was designed by Roger Taillebert to accommodate nearly 50,000 spectators. After its rise in D1, the PSG becomes resident.
In 1983, PSG played the first quarter-final of a European Cup against Belgians Waterschei in the Cup Winners’ Cup. In 50 years of history, it is the most successful club in France with 42 trophies:
- Ligue 1: 9 (1986, 1994, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020)
- Ligue 2: 1 (1971)
- Cup Winners’ Cup: 1 (1996)
- Coupe de France: 13 (1982, 1983, 1993, 1995, 1998, 2004, 2006, 2010, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020)
- League Cup: 9 (1995, 1998, 2008, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020)
- Champions Trophy: 9 (1995, 1998, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
From 1991 to 2006, after the club’s financial difficulties, Canal + took over. Michel Denisot becomes deputy vice-president of the club, Pierre Lescure president of SAOS, and Bernard Brochand president of the Paris Saint-Germain Association.
In 2006, Canal + sold the club to American investment funds (Colony Capital), French (Butler Capital Partners) and to an American bank (Morgan Stanley). Alain Cayzac was appointed club president on June 20, 2006.
In 2011, the sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority bought 70% of the club’s shares through its subsidiary Qatar Sports Investments (QSI).
In 1996, the club won a European Cup, the Cup Winners’ Cup, which is played in two-way matches. He won 1-0 by knocking out Rapid Vienna on a free kick from Ngotty.
From the first edition of the Coupe de la Ligue, which integrates all French clubs with professional status, during the 1995-1996 season, he won the trophy by beating SC Bastia 2-0 with goals from Alain Roche and Raï . In 2020, the club has the record of League Cup victories with 8 trophies as well as the successes of the first and last edition.
Another satisfaction, 5 of its players were crowned world champions: Raï, captain of the club, won the World Cup in 1994 with Brazil; Ronaldinho in 2002 also with the Brazilian selection; Alphonse Aréola, Presnel Kimpembe and Kylian Mbappé in 2018 with France in Russia.
PSG are the only club to have never been relegated from League 1, which is a record of 46 years in France, despite the 2007-2008 season when the club managed to escape relegation to 38th and last day of the championship.
This year, for its 50th anniversary, PSG is playing the second semi-final of the Champions League in its history, 25 years after that of 1995 when he qualified, overthrowing FC Barcelona, trained by the immense Johann Cruyff , but then inclined against AC Milan (0-3) at the gates of the final.
Since the lost Monaco final in 2004, when the whole country was Monegasque against Porto, France have been waiting to be present in the most prestigious of the European club cups. Bayern Munich, five-time winner and favorite in this final, remains a difficult opponent to beat. For the occasion, the whole country is united behind the capital despite the controversy erupted in Marseille prohibiting wearing the Parisian jersey in the Marseille city but the decision was canceled this Sunday following a conversation with the head of state and the minister inside.
With the defeat of Paris (0-1) against Bayern (goal scored in the 59th minute by Kingsley Coman for Bayern), the capital club did not win its first star, not equaling OM, The only French club to win the competition in 1993. Bayern Munich won the Champions League for the 6th time.
During the night, 151 people, including 49 minors, were taken into police custody for damage, violence or throwing projectiles. Around the Parc des Princes and the Avenue des Champs-Élysées clashes between law enforcement and youth groups during and after the match. Cars were set on fire and shop windows smashed. There are also 404 verbalizations for non-compliance with the compulsory wearing of a mask in the area.
About The Author
More Stories
No more comedy! Confidences to Dalida
Hams at the heart of a bell tower dispute!
Paris pays tribute to the victims of November 13, nine years later