Le Classique
Encyclopedia
Le Classique also known as Derby de France, is a football match contested between French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 top-flight
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

 clubs Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille
Olympique de Marseille is a French association football club based in Marseille. Founded in 1899, the club plays in Ligue 1 and have spent most of its history in the top tier of French football. Marseille have been French champions nine times and have won the Coupe de France a record ten times. In...

. The term "Le Classique" is modeled on the El Clásico
El Clásico
El Clásico , also known as El derbi Español, is the name given in football to a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. It is contested twice a year in the Spanish La Liga competition, and more often if the clubs meet in other competitions...

, contested between Real Madrid and Barcelona. These meetings became important during the late 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

 and the beginning of the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

. Canal + and Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie is a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Ministre de la Ville in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy, a businessman specializing in recovery for bankrupted companies, among which Adidas is the most famous ; and owner of sports teams...

 started to promote near the general public confrontations between the two clubs, making these matches of interest for all French football fans. The tension between OM and PSG fans is legendary, and both clubs' world-class stadia, the Stade Vélodrome
Stade Vélodrome
The Stade Vélodrome is a football stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1, and was a venue in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It is the largest club-football ground in France, with a capacity of 60,031 spectators,...

 and the Parc des Princes
Parc des Princes
The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...

, respectively, are renowned for the white-hot atmosphere and fervent fans. More and more, the various groups of Marseille and Parisian supporters have hated and battled each other. Important security measures are taken to prevent confrontations between the fans, but violent episodes still often occur every time the duo meet.

Like all major rivalries, the antipathy between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille extends outside the pitch as Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 and Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

 are the two largest cities in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, while the duo are the most successful and influential football clubs in the country having won eleven Ligue 1 titles, eighteen French Cups
Coupe de France
The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...

, five League Cups
Coupe de la Ligue
The Coupe de la Ligue , known outside of France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel...

 and five Champions Trophy
Trophée des champions
The Trophée des champions , is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super Cups found in many countries...

. Both clubs are also the only French clubs to have won a major European trophy, as PSG claimed the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a football club competition contested annually by the most recent winners of all European domestic cup competitions. The cup is one of the many inter-European club competitions that have been organised by UEFA. The first competition was held in the 1960–61 season—but...

 in 1996 and OM landed the UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 in 1993. The duo were the dominant forces before the appearance of Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais is a French association football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The...

 during the 21st century. Despite their recent ups and downs, PSG and OM remain, along with Saint-Étienne
AS Saint-Étienne
Association Sportive de Saint-Étienne Loire is a French association football club based in Saint-Étienne. The club was founded in 1919 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. Saint-Étienne plays its home matches at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard located within the city...

, the only French clubs with a truly nationwide, faithful and passionate fan base, giving the country's biggest match a special atmosphere.

History

The so-called "French clásico" has a historical, cultural and social importance that makes it more than a simple football game, facing capital against province and the chosen ones of French football against their "enfants terribles". The match is often referred to as the North versus the South as the duo represent Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, the national capital, and Marseille
Marseille
Marseille , known in antiquity as Massalia , is the second largest city in France, after Paris, with a population of 852,395 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Marseille extends beyond the city limits with a population of over 1,420,000 on an area of...

, the chief city of southern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Many French people dislike Paris due to its dominant political, cultural and economic influence. By extension, they tend to dislike its chief football team, Paris Saint-Germain, mainly supported by Parisians. As the best-supported club, Olympique de Marseille also attracts its share of detractors. The rivalry may not be the oldest in France's top flight, but it is undoubtedly the fiercest and most significant both on and off the pitch, being a fixture that divides loyalties right around the country. It is the most followed football match in France, watched by millions of people in the country. The southerners have been around for over a century now, while "Les Parisiens" only came into being in 1970, and in their early meetings there was little indication the two would become deadly adversaries as the situation between both clubs were two worlds apart.

Meetings between the duo became relevant during 1988–1989. PSG and OM faced each other in a virtual title decider at the Stade Vélodrome
Stade Vélodrome
The Stade Vélodrome is a football stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1, and was a venue in the 1998 FIFA World Cup and the 2007 Rugby World Cup. It is the largest club-football ground in France, with a capacity of 60,031 spectators,...

, with both clubs tied on points. Franck Sauzée
Franck Sauzée
Franck Sauzée is a former French international footballer and manager. He played 39 times for the French national team between 1988 and 1993, scoring nine goals and captaining the team several times...

 scored a last minute winner giving OM the title. 1993 saw Marseille reached both the very pinnacle and the very bottom of the European club game. A corruption scandal and a Canal+'s shining light for Paris Saint-Germain would threaten their hegemony. Basile Boli
Basile Boli
Basile Boli is a French former footballer and current television sports presenter.-Career:Although born in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, Boli moved to France at an early age and began his career in local youth football in Paris before signing for AJ Auxerre in 1982...

 hit home the winning goal against Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

 as Marseille became the first French side to win a European trophy and the only to win the Champions League. Their fans greeted the triumph by chanting "A jamais les premiers" which referred to the fact that they won the first "Classico" against PSG in 1971. Three days later, Boli's 18-yard header against PSG gave Marseille their fifth straight Ligue 1
Ligue 1
Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

 title. The city exploded with a joy shared across the nation but no sooner had the trophy been hoist aloft than the celebrations were brought to a halt. It is believed that Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie is a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Ministre de la Ville in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy, a businessman specializing in recovery for bankrupted companies, among which Adidas is the most famous ; and owner of sports teams...

 bribed Valenciennes
Valenciennes FC
Valenciennes Football Club is a French association football club based in Valenciennes. The club was founded in 1913 and currently play in Ligue 1, the top level of French football. Valenciennes plays its home matches at the recently-built Stade du Hainaut located within the city...

 to lose so that Marseille would win the French League earlier, giving them more time to prepare for the Champions League Final. Marseille was later stripped of their League title and relegated to Division 2 by the FFF
French Football Federation
The French Football Federation is the governing body of association football in France, as well as the overseas departments and territories . It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital Paris...

, while Bernard Tapie was forced to step down as its President. Marseille would dominate the fixture for many years and from 1990 to 1999 they did not lose to their arch-rivals in the league.

On 8 May 1996, Paris Saint-Germain became the youngest European club to win a European Cup, doing so in its 26th year. Driven by French playmaker Youri Djorkaeff
Youri Djorkaeff
Youri Raffi Djorkaeff is a former French international footballer who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. With the French national team, Djorkaeff won the 1998 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2000...

, PSG became the second and last French club to win a European title, beating Rapid Wien in the Cup Winners' Cup Final
1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final
The 1996 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final was a football match contested between Paris Saint-Germain of France and Rapid Wien of Astria. It was the final match of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup 1995–96 and the 36th Cup Winners' Cup Final. The final was held at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels on 8 May 1996...

 thanks to Bruno N'Gotty
Bruno N'Gotty
Bruno N'Gotty is a French football player of Cameroonian ancestry who last played for English club Leicester City. Initially a player at his home team Olympique Lyonnais, he later played for Paris Saint-Germain, A.C...

's indirect free kick. Luis Fernández
Luis Fernández
Luis Fernández is a Spanish-French footballer who played as a defender / midfielder. He retired as a player in 1993 to become a manager....

 became the first and, so far only, French manager to win a major European trophy. Paris Saint-Germain then earned their first league win over their arch-rivals since 1990. Olympique de Marseille would finish the season a point behind champions Bordeaux making the victory even more special for the capital club. PSG became the dominant side, achieving eight consecutive wins between 2002 and 2004. Paris won all the three matches disputed in 2003, including two wins at the Vélodrome, with superlatives performances from Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho
Ronaldo de Assis Moreira , commonly known as Ronaldinho or Ronaldinho Gaúcho, is a Brazilian footballer who plays for Flamengo and the Brazilian national team as an attacking midfielder or forward. He is a two-time winner of the FIFA World Player of the Year, awarded to the best player over the year...

. Six more victories arrived for PSG thanks in part to Pauleta
Pauleta
Pedro Miguel Carreiro Resendes, OIH , commonly known as Pauleta , is a retired Portuguese footballer who played as a striker....

's goals. He scored 6 times in 11 appearances, becoming Le Classique's all-time top scorer. The two met in the French Cup Final in 2006. PSG was struggling to avoid relegation, while OM was looking for a spot in Europe. PSG, however, lifted the French Cup for the seventh time in their history thanks to a magnficent 25-yard-goal from Vikash Dhorasoo. PSG then recorded their first victory at the Vélodrome since 2004, but Marseille responded with their biggest ever win and their first back-to-back victories at the Parc des Princes. These victories set "Les Marsellais" on the road to their ninth Ligue 1
2009–10 Ligue 1
The 2009–10 Ligue 1 season was the 72nd since its establishment. Bordeaux were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 5 June 2009, and play commenced on 8 August and ended on 15 May 2010. There were three promoted teams from Ligue 2, replacing the three teams that were relegated...

 title, having already clinched their first League Cup
2009–10 Coupe de la Ligue
The 2009–10 Coupe de la Ligue was the 16th edition of France's league cup, organized by the LFP. The defending champions were Ligue 1 club Bordeaux who defeated second division club Vannes 4–0 in the 2009 final. The competition began on 25 July 2009 and the final was held on 27 March 2010 at the...

. PSG, meanwhile, repaid their fans after a tough season with their eighth French Cup
2009–10 Coupe de France
The 2009–10 Coupe de France was the 93rd season of the most prestigious French cup competition, organized by the French Football Federation, and was open to all clubs in French football, as well as clubs from the overseas departments and territories...

 to ensure a return to European competition. Olympique de Marseille then defeated PSG for a fourth consecutive match after Edouard Cissé
Édouard Cissé
Édouard Cissé is a French football player who is currently contracted to AJ Auxerre in the French Ligue 1.-Career:He is a midfielder, 1.86 metres tall. Cissé previously played for Monaco in France and West Ham in the English Premiership and Paris Saint-Germain...

 struck the winning penalty against his former club as the Ligue 1 champions lifted the 2010 Trophée des Champions
2010 Trophée des Champions
The 2010 Trophée des champions was the 15th edition of the French supercup. The match was contested by the winners of Ligue 1 the previous season, Olympique de Marseille, and the winners of the Coupe de France the previous season, Paris Saint-Germain. The match was played, for the second...

.

Incidents

PSG's former owners Canal+
Canal+
Canal+ is a French premium pay television channel launched in 1984. It is 80% owned by the Canal+ Group, which in turn is owned by Vivendi SA. The channel broadcasts several kinds of programming, mostly encrypted...

, knowing the significance it could take on in the French socio-sporting landscape, began to promote confrontations between the two sides in the early 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

. OM's infamous former president Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie
Bernard Tapie is a French businessman, politician and occasional actor, singer, and TV host. He was Ministre de la Ville in the government of Pierre Bérégovoy, a businessman specializing in recovery for bankrupted companies, among which Adidas is the most famous ; and owner of sports teams...

 also claims he instigated and nurtured the rivalry to motivate his team since the late 1980s
1980s
File:1980s decade montage.png|thumb|400px|From left, clockwise: The first Space Shuttle, Columbia, lifted off in 1981; American President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev eased tensions between the two superpowers, leading to the end of the Cold War; The Fall of the Berlin Wall in...

. More and more, the numerous groups of Marseille and Paris supporters have hated and battled each other. Important security measures are taken to prevent confrontations. However, many incidents still occur between the supporters when both clubs clash.
  • 11 April 1995 : 146 arrests and 9 policemen hospitalized due to fighting in the semi-final of the Coupe de France
    Coupe de France
    The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...

    .
  • 12 October 1999 : a bus was inflamed.
  • 13 October 2000 : an 18-year-old Marseille supporter was paralyzed for life after being struck by a seat thrown from the Parisians section of the Parc des Princes
    Parc des Princes
    The Parc des Princes is an all-seater football stadium located in the southwest of Paris, France. The venue, with a seating capacity of 48,712 spectators, has been the home of French football club Paris Saint-Germain since 1974. The current Parc des Princes was inaugurated on 4 June 1972, endowed...

    .
  • 10 February 2002 : a 16-year-old Marseille fan was half decapitated (his head was out the window of a moving bus when it slammed into a bridge abutment); a Parisian fan suffered a broken arm after falling into the ditch that separates the turn Auteuil from the lawn; 15 arrests; 2 provisional detentions; several vehicles damaged; a fire inside the Parc des Princes.
  • 26 October 2002 : 61 arrests.
  • 25 January 2003 : 43 arrests.
  • 9 March 2003 : 27 injured; 1 hospitalized.
  • 29 April 2006 : 2 injured for clashes in the vicinity of the Stade de France
    Stade de France
    The Stade de France is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 80,000, making it the fifth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for...

    .
  • 2 September 2007 : 5 arrests; 3 injured.
  • 15 March 2009 : 22 arrests; 9 provisional detentions.
  • 25 October 2009 : 10 arrests; 10 injured (a PSG supporter was hit by a car which then fled).
  • 20 November 2009 : 15 arrests.
  • 28 February 2010 : 20 arrests; Boulogne Boys member Yann L. was left in a life-threatening coma after being attacked by another PSG group, the Supras Auteuil.
  • 18 March 2010 : Yann L. died in the hospital after being in a coma since 28 February.

Other Facts

According to a survey by Le Point
Le Point
Le Point is a French weekly news magazine. It was founded in 1972 by a group of journalists who had, one year earlier, left the editorial team of L'Express, which was then owned by Jean-Jacques Servan-Schreiber, a député of the Parti Radical...

 in 2009, Olympique de Marseille has the largest following in France with 20%. Paris Saint-Germain, tied with Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais
Olympique Lyonnais is a French association football club based in Lyon. They play in France's highest football division, Ligue 1. The club was formed as Lyon Olympique Universitaire in 1899, according to many supporters and sport historians, but was nationally established as a club in 1950. The...

, is far behind with 11%. Girondins de Bordeaux
FC Girondins de Bordeaux
Football Club des Girondins de Bordeaux is a French association football club based in the city of Bordeaux. The club currently play in Ligue 1, the first division of French football, and won its last Ligue 1 title in the 2008–09 season....

 is close behind with 10%. Marseille are also the most popular French club in the world followed by Paris and Lyon. Paris Saint-Germain hold the honor of being the richest club in the country and are one of the richest clubs in the world. OM are the third richest club in France, only surpassed by Lyon. The duo were founding members of the G-14
G-14
The G-14 was an organisation of European football clubs that existed between 2000 and 2008. It consisted of 14 teams initially, later expanded to 18...

 and form part of its modern replacement, the European Club Association
European Club Association
The European Club Association is an organization representing football clubs in Europe- History :Formed on the dissolution of the G-14 group in January 2008, the European Club Association represents 201 clubs, made up of 103 ordinary members and 98 associated members, with at least one from each...

. OM's average home gate for the 2010–11
2010–11 Ligue 1
The 2010–11 Ligue 1 season was the 73rd since its establishment. Entering the season, Marseille were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 21 May 2010 and the season began on 7 August and ended on 29 May 2011. The winter break was in effect between 23 December and 15 January 2011...

 season was 51,081, the highest in the Ligue 1, while PSG came fourth with 29,317. PSG was named IFFHS World's Club Team of the Year
International Federation of Football History & Statistics
The International Federation of Football History & Statistics is an organization that chronicles the history and records of Association football. It was founded on 27 March 1984 at Leipzig by Dr. Alfredo Pöge with the blessings of general secretary of the FIFA at the time, Dr. Helmut Käser...

 in 1994 and ranked 1st in the UEFA Team Ranking in 1998. Paris Saint-Germain is the only French club to ever achieve these honours. Marseille reached the 3rd spot in 1991, their highest since the creation of the ranking. From 1993 to 1997, PSG finished in the top ten of the Club World Raking. The IFFHS also publishes a ranking taking into account the results over the past twelve months. PSG has been five times 1st in this mensual rankings. Taking into account the period from 1991 to 2009, PSG is ranked 25th globally, being the highest ranked French club after Lyon. PSG and OM are currently ranked 11th and 32nd in the IFFHS. The duo, meanwhile, are respectively ranked 45th and 15th in the UEFA Team Ranking.

Statistics

.

All-time results

.
All official matches.


  • F = Final
  • SF = Semi-finals
  • QF = Quarter-finals
  • R16= Round of 16
  • R32= Round of 32
  • R64= Round of 64

  • L1 = Ligue 1
    Ligue 1
    Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

  • D1 = Division 1
    Ligue 1
    Ligue 1 , is the French professional league for association football clubs. It is the country's primary football competition and serves as the top division of the French football league system. Ligue 1 is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Professionnel, the other being Ligue 2....

  • CF = Coupe de France
    Coupe de France
    The Coupe Charles Simon, commonly known as the Coupe de France , is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation...

  • CL = Coupe de la Ligue
    Coupe de la Ligue
    The Coupe de la Ligue , known outside of France as the French League Cup, is a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel...

  • TC = Trophée des Champions
    Trophée des champions
    The Trophée des champions , is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super Cups found in many countries...




Switching Sides

47 players have worn the shirt of both Olympique Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain. Sometimes through a direct transfer, sometimes after many years and some have even found their way back. The number increases to 49 if we add Abel Braga, who played for PSG from 1979 to 1981 and then managed OM in 2000, and Tomislav Ivić
Tomislav Ivic
Tomislav Ivić was a Croatian football player and manager.Often described as a brilliant strategist, Ivić is credited with helping develop the modern style of the game...

, who managed both Paris and Marseille. The large amount of players who have represented for both sides is surprisingly high considering the enmity between the clubs. Olympique Marseille's current squad features former Paris Saint-Germain players Édouard Cissé
Édouard Cissé
Édouard Cissé is a French football player who is currently contracted to AJ Auxerre in the French Ligue 1.-Career:He is a midfielder, 1.86 metres tall. Cissé previously played for Monaco in France and West Ham in the English Premiership and Paris Saint-Germain...

, Fabrice Abriel
Fabrice Abriel
Fabrice Abriel in Suresnes, Hauts-de-Seine is a French footballer currently playing for OGC Nice.- External links :...

 and Gabriel Heinze
Gabriel Heinze
Gabriel Iván Heinze is an Argentine footballer who plays for A.S. Roma in Italy. Mainly a left back, he can also operate as a central defender....

. Paris Saint-Germain, meanwhile, have former Marseille members Péguy Luyindula
Péguy Luyindula
Péguy Luyindula in Kinshasa is a French football striker. He currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain, in the French League.-Early career:...

 and Claude Makélélé
Claude Makélélé
Claude Makélelé Sinda is a retired football player who used to play as a defensive midfielder for Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. Prior to joining Paris Saint-Germain, Makélélé played for Nantes, Olympique de Marseille, Celta Vigo, Real Madrid and Chelsea...

. An incredible surprise for many supporters, as it seems obvious that a player from Marseille has nothing to do in Paris and viceversa, especially when there isn't a 10-year-career in between. Only four players have left one club for the other and then returned. Jérôme Leroy
Jérôme Leroy (footballer)
Jérôme Leroy is a French footballer currently playing for Évian Thonon Gaillard F.C. as an attacking midfielder....

 left Paris Saint-Germain in 1999 for Olympique Marseille and then returned to the French capital in 2002. Xavier Gravelaine
Xavier Gravelaine
Xavier Gravelaine is a French football manager and former football player, who played for many clubs in France and Europe and for France national team . He was sometimes seen as a mercenary because of the impressive number of teams he played for but often appreciated by supporters...

, meanwhile, left Paris Saint-Germain in 1995 to join Guingamp before signing for Marseille in 1996. Three years later, he returned to Paris. Bruno Germain
Bruno Germain
Bruno Germain, is a former football player. In his playing career he played for seven French clubs, most notably Olympique Marseille and Paris SG, being capped once for France.-Titles:...

 was directly transferred from Marseille to Paris Saint-Germain in 1991. He returned to the south of France in 1994. Saar Boubacar
Saar Boubacar
Saar Boubacar is a retired Senegalese football player who played in France for SC Toulon, Marseille, AS Cannes, Paris Saint-Germain and FC Martigues, as well as in the United States with New Jersey City.-References:**...

 had the same experience, arriving at the capital club from Olympique Marseille in 1979 before returning to his first club in 1983. The rivalry has never prevented the business. Many players have crossed the bridge without knowing or caring about the intense rivalry between both clubs and have subsequently suffered abuses from the supporters.

Love and passion for the shirt is a figment of the imagination and career choices from the players have ended in sounded failures. Captain Frédéric Déhu
Frédéric Déhu
Frédéric Déhu is a retired French footballer who played as a central defender.-Club career:Déhu made his professional debuts with RC Lens, becoming an undisputed starter from his third season onwards...

 left Paris Saint-Germain, Ligue 1 vice-champions, French Cup champions and UEFA Champions League contenders, for an Olympique de Marseille side without European action but that would pay him twice the amount he earned at the capital club in 2004. His future was revealed just days before the French Cup Final against Châteauroux
LB Châteauroux
La Berrichonne de Châteauroux is a French association football club based in Châteauroux. The football team is a part of a sports club that consists of several other sports and was founded in 1883. The team currently plays in Ligue 2, the second division of French football, having finished 16th in...

 and he was widely booed by Paris fans throughout the match. After the final whistle, Déhu run to the locker room to hide his tears before coming out and briefly lifting the trophy. Months later, Fabrice Fiorèse
Fabrice Fiorèse
Fabrice Fiorèse is a retired French footballer.-Paris Saint-Germain:*Coupe de France**Champions : 2003-04-External links:...

 slammed the door at PSG after a confrontation with then manager Vahid Halilhodžić
Vahid Halilhodžic
Vahid "Vaha" Halilhodžić is a former Bosnian football player and now a manager, currently managing the Algeria national football team....

. He was transferred to OM in stormy conditions and went from being a fan favorite to being the most hated. Considered to be the new Christophe Dugarry at the time, Fiorèse insisted on the fact that Halilhodžić had refused his request to miss a match when his wife gave birth. A player's transferring directly from one club to another is seen as high treason, as Fabrice Fiorèse discovered when he was effectively whistled and chanted out of a Clasico by Paris fans outraged by his transfer to their arch-rivals. "Treason" has in fact happened in different ways: transfers, players out of contract or exchange. During the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...

, we witnessed the record shuffles between the two cities, when the sporting and media rivalry was at its peak. French football hope Jocelyn Angloma
Jocelyn Angloma
Jocelyn Angloma is a French-Guadeloupean football defender currently playing for a Guadeloupean club, L'Etoile de Morne-à-l'Eau.He is fluent in French, Creole patois, English, Italian and Spanish.- Career :...

 from PSG was exchanged for OM players Bernard Pardo
Bernard Pardo
Bernard Pardo, is a former football player.In his playing career he played for Olympique Marseille and for France.In 1993, he was sent to jail for cocaine traffic, which interrupted his career.-Titles:...

, Bruno Germain
Bruno Germain
Bruno Germain, is a former football player. In his playing career he played for seven French clubs, most notably Olympique Marseille and Paris SG, being capped once for France.-Titles:...

 and Laurent Fournier
Laurent Fournier
Laurent Fournier, is a former French footballer and now manager of AJ Auxerre.-As a player:*French championship in 1991 with Olympique Marseille and 1994 with Paris SG...

. Laurent Fournier replaced Vahid Halilhodžić as PSG coach and midfielder Lorik Cana
Lorik Cana
Lorik Cana is an Albanian footballer, who plays for Lazio as a defensive midfielder and the Albania national football team. He is the captain for Albania at international level...

 fell out of favour in 2005. This prompted him to move to the south of France. Although previously declaring they will never play for OM, Modeste M'bami
Modeste M'Bami
Modeste M'bami is a Cameroonian football player .-Club career:M'Bami started his career in his home country by playing for Dynamo Douala but was quickly spotted by foreign clubs. He joined CS Sedan Ardennes during the summer of 2000...

 in 2006 and Gabriel Heinze
Gabriel Heinze
Gabriel Iván Heinze is an Argentine footballer who plays for A.S. Roma in Italy. Mainly a left back, he can also operate as a central defender....

 in 2009 joined "Les Phocéens".
.

  • ¹: appearances and goals in all official competitions at the end of the 2010–11 season
  • ²: some players have multiple nationalities, but they can play only for one national team

External links

Official Websites PSG.fr OM.net
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