Olympique Marseille vs. PSG: The biggest French derby full of hate. The “art” attempt to escalate it was successful. What’s the story?

Olympique Marseille and PSG are the two most successful French clubs. They are also the only French clubs to have won European trophies. Their derby is called Le Classique and it is the biggest match in France. It has a rich history, although not that long. How did this infernal rivalry come about and what is its story?

More than a football match

The history of the two clubs is quite different

There are some very traditional clubs in France. Olympique Marseille in particular is one of the most traditional, having been founded back in 1899. Throughout its history, it has been one of the best teams in the country and currently has the second highest number of trophies in France.

Only PSG, which was founded in 1970, is better. The Parisians also had to fight their way into the French elite first. Until then, Marseille was not an issue. More attention was paid to duels with Saint-Étienne, Lyon or Bordeaux.

Given the context of Le Classique, then, it is rather paradoxical that while Olympique was founded by aristocrats, Paris Saint-Germain was owned by fans from the beginning of the club.

Incidentally, PSG and Marseille are the only French clubs to have won European trophies. The Parisians dominated the Cup Winners’ Cup in the 1990s and won the Intertoto Cup at the beginning of the millennium. Olympique won the Champions League in 1993.

Derby context

That PSG is not one of the most traditional clubs, and thus it doesn’t make much sense that it became Marseille’s arch enemy immediately after its promotion to the French elite? But no way. As already mentioned, there is more to this case than just football.

There is too much centralisation in France. Paris dominates in all aspects. Economically, politically and culturally. It is not very popular throughout the country. Not just in football. In football, however, it’s all the more noticeable.

Marseille represents the part of France that is fighting against Paris’ dominance. It’s a battle of north versus south, of metropolis versus province, of the two most important and influential cities in France. Olympique also has the most fans in the country.

But the escalation has been gradual. PSG’s first title in 1986 helped a lot. But that was just the beginning.

Was the rivalry artificially exacerbated?

Perhaps an exaggerated claim, but not far from the truth. PSG was bought in 1991 by Canal+, the biggest pay-TV channel in France, among others. Until then, the Parisians had not been able to compete fully with Marseille.

The reason why Canal+ bought PSG? The vision of a revival of the French top flight and, with it, an increase in the channel’s viewership. Moreover, the then president of Olympique Marseille, Bernard Tapie, encouraged Canal+ to promote the hatred between the two clubs, making it one of the biggest football rivalries in the world.

Indeed, in the 1990s, the rivalry between the two clubs escalated to such an extent that larger and more frequent clashes between the two fan camps began to occur. Both clubs were bringing in great players and it was bearing fruit in Europe.

The bribery scandal

The 1992/93 season was played. Olympique Marseille won the title with just 53 points. PSG had two points less. But Olympique and its president Tapie were found guilty of match-fixing. This meant being stripped of the title, eliminated from both the Champions League and Ligue 1.

PSG could have won the title instead of Marseille. It was also offered a Champions League place. But both offers were rejected. The reason? Canal+, the owner of the metropolitan club, did not want to antagonise the subscribers from Provence. The Champions League place went to third-placed Monaco.

Le Classique statistics

Olympique Marseille and PSG met for the first time ever in December 1971. The match ended with Marseille winning 4: 2. Since then, there have been 102 duels between the two sides and, thanks to the last decade in particular, Paris is considerably better off (46 wins, 33 losses, 23 draws). In total, 266 goals have been scored.

Four matches ended with a four-goal difference. Three of them in PSG’s favour. Interestingly then, as far as the cards are concerned, the worst match between these teams was in September 2020. Marseille won in Paris 1: 0 and there were 14 yellow cards and 5 red cards (3 PSG, 2 Olympique).

Steve Mandanda played the most games in Le Classique, the Marseille legend managed 30. The clear top scorer of the derby is Zlatan Ibrahimovic with 11 goals. He is followed by Kylian Mbappé and Edinson Cavani with 7 goals.

Neymar (4 yellow, 2 red), Ricardo (5 yellow, 1 red) and Marco Verratti (6 yellow) are responsible for the most cards.

So far 49 players have played for both clubs at senior level.

Source: Bleacher Report, Ligue 1, ESPN