a nice welcome but little interaction for the Blues in front of the supporters in Paderborn

The French team had requested an exemption to exceed the capacity of 500 spectators planned by UEFA, and trained in front of 4,000 fans on Thursday.

The Home Deluxe Arena, Paderborn’s stadium, had certainly never seen so many PSG jerseys adorned with Mbappé’s name. For their second day in Germany, Thursday June 13, the Blues trained in public, under the eyes of 4,000 people while the capacity planned by UEFA was initially 500 spectators. The free ticket office had even recorded 100,000 requests to attend the training of the French team, ultimately without Kylian Mbappé, who was spared and remained in the room, and Kingsley Coman, who was a little ill.

The German fans were waiting for it, and their disappointment must have been great when the Blues entered the pitch, without their captain. “My girlfriend offered me tickets, it was complicated to get them, there were resales on the Internet, sometimes 500 euros for four seats, that’s not normal. But we came to see Mbappé, Griezmann and Dembélé”, explained Sukur accompanied by his son, both dressed in a PSG outfit, before training. Like them, Philip, 12, wears his idol’s jersey, and took advantage of the fact that classes ended early in Germany to see the attacker. “I gave a presentation on him and on PSG at school, but we didn’t manage to get places, we’re still going to try to get in,” he expects.

Luckier, Lisa, 20, managed to get one of the tickets, gone “in one minute”and came wearing his flocked blue Zaire-Emery jersey. “I have been a fan of the French team and PSG for several years, I really like the players. I will also go to see France-Poland at the stadium and I will perhaps support France more than Germany”, she says, trying to speak the language of Molière. Blues jerseys, tricolor flags, and even French-speaking playlist based on Vegedream, Stromae and Sexion d’Assaut, all efforts to welcome the Blues.

On the field, Didier Deschamps’ men began their session with a game of ball conservation, then with opposition on a reduced surface, exercises in which Aurélien Tchouaméni and Ibrahima Konaté, who trained at the gap with a physical trainer. Adrien Rabiot, who reassured about his form, Randal Kolo Muani, who scored a series of goals for the victorious team, and Bradley Barcola, comfortable in small spaces, made a particularly good impression.

And if Kylian Mbappé did not participate in the session, the captain of the Blues at least left the locker room to watch the end of training, to the delight of the supporters, who continued to shout his name . The new Madrilenian also took the time to sign a few autographs and pose for selfies with the few lucky supporters placed at the edge of the pitch.

But the majority, placed in the opposite stand, did not have the chance to see the Blues up close. “They didn’t bother to pass the midfield to greet us. While on television, we saw other selections signing autographs to the fans present.”regret Laurenz and her mother. “It’s a bit sad, especially for the children, but we can understand it, they are stars, and I am already very proud to see such players in the stadium where I usually come to watch Paderborn play “, shade Julius. The Blues then returned to their hotel where they will celebrate Kingsley Coman’s 28th birthday on Thursday evening, perhaps without the main party, to whom they will bring “a cake in his room“, according to Ousmane Dembélé’s words earlier at a press conference.