15, March 2019
France Football: Balotelli sparking Marseille revival 0
Marseille’s sudden recent revival has coincided with the arrival of Mario Balotelli, and they take on Paris Saint-Germain this weekend hoping for a long overdue victory against their old foes.
PSG have not lost any of their last 18 meetings with Marseille in all competitions since a 3-0 defeat at the Velodrome back in November 2011, the first game between the teams following the Qatari takeover in Paris.
The fixture has lost some of its lustre as a result, with Marseille only managing three draws in the ‘Classique’ in all that time.
Most recently, PSG won 2-0 in Marseille in October, a result which came at the start of a dreadful run of form for Rudi Garcia’s team as they won just three times in 18 games in all competitions, a slump that saw them dumped out of both domestic cups and the Europa League.
But then Balotelli arrived, and OM quickly started winning again — five wins and a draw in their last six games have seen Marseille move back to within three points of the top three in Ligue 1.
Finishing on the podium, and returning to the Champions League, is seen as essential for the southern giants — still the only French side ever to have won the European Cup — and their American owner Frank McCourt.
Since signing from Nice on a short-term deal at the end of January, Balotelli has scored five times in seven games, his last two goals being followed by memorable celebrations — a group selfie immediately posted to Instagram, and then a game of rock-paper-scissors.
The former Manchester City striker’s impact on his teammates has been considerable.
“The mentality, the mindset on the pitch are different now,” midfielder Kevin Strootman, who ironically has lost his place in the side in recent weeks, told sports daily L’Equipe.
“If we want to keep fighting for a top-three place, and get into the Champions League, we have to show that we are capable of winning the big matches.”
– What welcome for PSG? –
There could be a tense atmosphere at the Parc des Princes, with PSG facing their home support for the first time since the crushing disappointment of their Champions League exit at the hands of Manchester United.
Thomas Tuchel’s side faced verbal abuse and taunts from angry fans when they returned to training last weekend, before winning 4-0 at struggling Dijon in a rearranged game on Tuesday.
The fall-out from their European debacle continues, and outcast midfielder Adrien Rabiot — who has been sidelined after refusing to sign a new contract — has now been suspended.
According to L’Equipe, Rabiot was punished for a nightclub visit in the wake of the United game, and for ‘liking’ a video posted on social media by former United player Patrice Evra celebrating the result in the stands at the Parc des Princes.
PSG remain untouchable in France — they are 17 points clear of second-placed Lille at the top of the table with a game in hand and have won all 14 of their home fixtures.
Elsewhere, Lyon will look to bounce back from their Champions League exit at the hands of Barcelona as they host Montpellier on Sunday.
After being eliminated from the Europa League in the last 16 by Arsenal, Rennes go to Bordeaux, who will be playing their first match under new coach Paulo Sousa.
“We have to congratulate the players for their remarkable run,” said Rennes coach Julien Stephan after a 3-0 defeat in London saw them go out 4-3 on aggregate.
“We don’t have the experience or the power of Arsenal, but we have learnt a lot, even if the experience ended in a painful manner.”
Fixtures (all times GMT)
Friday
Nice v Toulouse (1800), Lille v Monaco (1945)
Saturday
Angers v Amiens, Caen v Saint-Etienne, Guingamp v Dijon, Nimes v Strasbourg (all 1900)
Sunday
Lyon v Montpellier (1330), Reims v Nantes (1400), Bordeaux v Rennes (1600), Paris Saint-Germain v Marseille (2000)
AFP
14, April 2019
European football struggles with racism as French team Amiens halts Ligue 1 game 0
The interruption of the Dijon-Amiens Ligue 1 match on Friday after visiting captain Prince Gouano was the target of monkey chants adds to a string of recent racist incidents across Europe.ADVERTISING
It comes after rising Italy star Moise Kean was targeted by racist abuse in Cagliari in Serie A earlier in the month.
Monkey chants were aimed at England players during a Euro 2020 qualifier in Montenegro and there have been a series of episodes involving London clubs.
“Racism exists in the stadiums in France, but we cannot put the situation on the same level as in Eastern European countries or Italy,” football sociologist Nicolas Hourcade, a professor at the Central School of Lyon, told AFP.
The goalless draw in Dijon was halted in the 78th minute as players from both sides stopped playing and headed towards the touchline after Gouano said he heard insults.
“It’s over,” Gouano said. “We’re not playing on. I’m taking off my team-mates.”
Players, including Gouano went to remonstrate with fans.
Referee Karim Abed also asked the stadium announcer to “get the message across, if it happens again, we stop.”
Following discussions between players, coaches and officials, play then resumed.
“In Dijon, we saw that it was an isolated supporter who could be identified and arrested,” Hourcade said. “In other countries, there are collective demonstrations where a whole section of the ground, or a good part of one, can shout monkey chants or racist slogans.”
After the game, the French league (LFP) said it would investigate and also announced that Dijon had identified the culprit. The club said they intended to press charges.
“These disgusting shouts are contrary to the values conveyed by sport, they insult our Republic, and I welcome the rapid reaction of the LFP: racism will never have a place in France,” responded Interior Minister Christophe Castaner.
Anti-racism campaigners urge abandoning matches.
“We do not tackle the subject of racism as we should,” former France captain Lilian Thuram told AFP in 2018, after Blaise Matuidi suffered abuse when Juventus played at Cagliari.
“Why didn’t the referee stop the match, why didn’t the white players leave the field?”
“If there is no deal with the problem, it will be the same thing in 20 years,” he said.
Yet the same thing did happen when Juventus played at Cagliari on April 2. Kean, along with Matuidi and Brazilian Alex Sandro, were targeted by monkey noises and jeers throughout the match.
‘Openly fascist’
Instead of denouncing their fans, Cagliari’s leadership blamed Kean for celebrating his late winner by standing motionless and silent with arms spread in front of the hostile stand.
“Italy is a case apart for two reasons,” Hourcade said. “The historical strength of the extreme right, and the presence of openly fascist fan organisations.”
But in England too, there have been numerous recent incidents at all levels of football.
On Thursday, half a dozen Chelsea fans posted a video on social media in which they sang that Liverpool’s Egyptian star, Mohamed Salah, was a “bomber”. Chelsea identified and barred three of the fans.
Arsenal are attempting to identify a fan who was caught on video shouting racist abuse at Kalidou Koulibaly of Napoli in a Europa League game on Thursday.
In December, Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling was the target of insults at Chelsea and a Tottenham fan threw a banana in the direction of Arsenal’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
One of the major issues is “to identify the perpetrators of these acts to punish them,” said Hourcade.
Spurs’ England defender Danny Rose has blasted the game’s rulers for failing to rein in racism, calling their efforts “a farce”.
(AFP)