It’s a timing that makes people talk, a few days before the shock against Real Madrid, in the Champions League. Paris Saint Germain, winner in stoppage time 1 to 0 against Stade Rennaisa solid leader in Ligue 1 with a 16-point lead over second-placed Olympique de Marseille and who remains on a series of 15 matches without defeat in the league, suffered the revolt of the Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP). Ultras who had announced the color a little earlier in the evening, via a leaflet distributed around the stadium.
Banners hostile to management
Their return to the Auteuil bend half an hour into the game was accompanied by hostile streamers to the management, to the management of the women’s section and the Kheira Hamraoui affair, to the colors of the club’s jerseys, but also to the players, qualified as “overpaid mercenaries“. Only the president, Nasser Al-Khelaïfi, was spared.
A punch operation that did not please the players. The latter did not go to greet the supporters as is customary at the end of the meeting. This operation comes especially five days before the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League against Real Madrid, at the Parc des Princes.
Pochettino calls for a ‘very strong union’
If the message has been received, coach Mauricio Pochettino appealed to supporters. “The club needs a very strong union. Fans are the most important in a club“, thus declared the Parisian coach in a press conference.We need this union. They have the right to express themselves. But we need to be united. We are in an important period. This is the time to be united, to think together, to fight together to achieve the goals.”
The ultras, despite the banners, resumed the chants in the second half and encouraged their players from the 45th to the 93rd minute of play. Facing Madrid next Tuesday, they would be well advised to support their team from the warm-up, until ‘at the end of the night.