A year and a half of pandemic had almost made forget the flavor and the smell of the big matches. During the Classic against Paris Saint-Germain, Sunday, October 24, the people of Marseille did everything to remember it. The 65,000 people who lined the stands of the Vélodrome will gladly remember the atmosphere and not the strict result, neutral and obviously disappointing (0-0).
Deafening, strident, when the ball had the misfortune to find itself between the feet of Parisian players. Ecstatic and uninhibited when she inherited it. The clamor accompanied his team until the final whistle, with one and the same voice, no Parisian supporter being allowed in the enclosure. Before the meeting, a Marseille supporter confided: “I don’t care about the result. We’re supposed to lose anyway. An atmosphere like this is worth more than all the victories in Ligue 1“.
The stands go up in flames just before kick-off #OMPSG pic.twitter.com/ZFdEOGnqQi
– Andréa La Perna (@A_LaPerna) October 24, 2021
To understand this, we must turn away from the reducing angle of television broadcasting. Several hours before kick-off, the match had already started in the streets of Marseille. Impossible to pass in front of a terrace in the Old Port without seeing a proudly displayed club jersey. Most often its carrier throws itself into a series of forecasts. Suddenly, a traveling percussionist finds himself pressing supporters’ chants, hammering the “arms” of a few passers-by already ready to do battle.
The fervor rose crescendo. In a crowded metro train, heading for the stadium, a former member of the “Vél” subscriber for 17 years, reframes a young person and convinces him to put away his cigarette. Without the slightest animosity, the conversation between the two strangers deviates on the match: “It’s going to blow up tonight“,”yes, it’s going to be madness, but it’s up to us to be careful “. Above all heads hovers the same threat: a withdrawal of one point for the club which receives as after the excesses in Nice, on August 22.
The day before the match, Marseille captain Dimitri Payet himself spoke on social networks to urge supporters to show “exemplary“. “Above all, it must remain a party, it must remain the party of football”, he insisted. Neither his words, nor the letter from President Pablo Longoria and the reminders of the Vélodrome announcer will not have been enough to padlock this crowd too invested in his evening.
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Projectile throws twice interrupted the course of the match. Both times, the turns took Neymar for target as he was about to take a corner (27th, 53rd). Still prohibited by the regulations of the Professional Football League (LFP), smoke and firecrackers were cracked by the hundreds in the stadium, while one would have thought that the festivities on the square – more than two hours before the start of hostilities – had been enough to exhaust stocks.
The revelation of a gigantic three-dimensional tifo on the south bend side was an opportunity to make the stands glow to make it look like a volcano. Nearly ten minutes after kick-off, a thick fog still threatened to envelop the twenty-two actors. Visual, with unusual shades of gray and red, the show turned into a sensory experience where the smell of smoke blends with a clamor as capricious as it is deafening.
Barely 2 hours before kick-off, the Marseillais were already present #OMPSG pic.twitter.com/Y5QlAi9XDx
– Andréa La Perna (@A_LaPerna) October 24, 2021
“The fervor of OM is the best in France, it is incredible. When I had the opportunity to come, I didn’t ask myself any questions. I knew I was coming for the people of Marseille“, reacted the Marseille coach Jorge Sampaoli at a press conference.”We showed a beautiful face, we fought to the end, and just for the atmosphere, it was the best match of my career“, even ignited William Saliba in the mixed zone.