'Le Classique': Supporter chasing Messi, nine police officers injured, 21 arrests

In the absence of goals, Olympique Marseille supporters made sure that nobody forgets the derby match with PSG. It is a rivalry that grew in the early 1990s, when Marseille were the dominant force in French football and, for a short while, in Europe and it’s named "Le Classique". Well, this ‘Classique’ will be remembered by fantastic fan support, but also pitch invasion, arrests, and possible points deduction.

Olympique is already under the radar of the leagues disciplinary committee after fans trouble in Angers in September, and now they will again be the main topic, this time for incidents that occurred on the sidelines at Velodrome, as well as pitch invasion regarding Lionel Messi. Near Marseille’s stadium, the Velodrome, nine police officers were injured. 21 individuals were arrested and taken into custody according to information from BFMTV.

From the victory against Lorient last week, Dimitri Payet had reframed the fan, Pablo Longoria wrote to supporters on Friday asking them to be calm during the derby. The club also upgraded the security system at the stadium and assembled 874 stewards and four removable nets, which were used for player protection, whenever there was a corner for PSG. Nothing worked, and the captain was angry.

"Thank you to the public who set the fire and was exemplary, but I also saw bottles, chargers, lighters, I have already seen them on me, I know what it is. We risk losing points, we cannot say that these people like OM. I am disillusioned, I do not understand, we know that we are being observed, we need real sanctions, we can no longer wait for someone to be hurt" said Dimitri Payet after the match.

PSG survive Velodrome hell with 10 men

What’s even worse, one supporter managed to ran across the whole pitch and catch up with Messi, who was attacking. A Marseille supporter got within touching distance of the Argentinian. Not only was the incident incredibly dangerous and could have led to someone getting hurt, but it completely stopped PSG’s attack in a game that could have been decided with just a single goal. In the end, Marseille’s supporters might cost their team one point, which they absolutely deserved.