A French derby without French fans

Trophee des Champions (the Champions Trophy) in France is almost like a Ligue 1 competition. It means that PSG is always in the final and it‘s always a big favorite to win it (which they did the last three times) so it‘s a bit boring to everyone, including the Parisians. France‘s decision to allow a foreign country (Qatar) to own a football club proved to be a disaster, as no owner can even come close to that kind of funds to challenge PSG. Those rare times when PSG was not the champion were the sitations when the Parisians had problems or played badly and not because there was a team stronger than them. And tonight, they are playing against their great rivals Marseille at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium in Kuwait City. The oil-rich Middle Eeast countries have become Mecca for attracting money. Spanish Super Cup is playing in Saudi Arabia. But the fans don‘t like it. There will be no French fans of both clubs tonight.

Marseille's management had offered 150 supporters 150 euros each for the trip, with the club covering the rest. However, the ultras declined the offer, deeming the relocation to the Middle East absurd. PSG cancelled its fan package for the match due to a lack of registrations. Stadium which can accommodate 60,000 spectators will be quite full, as only 5,000 tickets remained on sale as of yesterday, but that‘s not the point.

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Christian Cataldo, the emblematic president of the Dodgers supporters' group, one of the largest in Marseille was sharp in his criticism of the whole event.

"There was this offer for 150 people. But we have 50,000 season ticket holders at the Vélodrome, 27,000 of whom are in the fan groups. It was a good gesture, but considering the value of this Champions Trophy…I don't see what OM has to do with this, we didn't win the league and we didn't win the Coupe de France. Paris should automatically win this Champions Trophy! We shouldn't even have the right to compete for it, what have we won this year? It's ridiculous. And then to organize this match in Kuwait… We're not in the realm of family and grassroots football. We're not going to watch a Champions Trophy match on a Thursday evening in Kuwait. Where will it be next time? How do people who earn 1,500 euros a month manage? If we lose, it won't mean much to us. If we win, we'll be happy, but we didn't deserve to participate. I'd rather win the Coupe de France 10,000 times" he said on "Rothen s'enflamme“ RMC radio show.

As for the players, they have to do their job and play for the meaningless trophy. The fact that it‘s a derby match and that Marseille finally won the last duel (1-0 in Ligue 1) is not a problem for PSG captain Marquinhos.

"Marseille never scares me. Fear, no. We always respect our opponent. No matter who the opponent is, we're not afraid. It's our mindset and our philosophy to always want to win, to do what it takes on the pitch to win matches" said the Brazilian.