Paris (AFP)

From the overdose assumed to the total blackout: between simulations on video games, reruns of legendary matches and bets on "exotic" championships in activity despite the pandemic, the "drug addicts" of football try their best to find substitutes ... while waiting for their "dealers" to resume service.

"I know that some people think that a match is 22 assholes running behind a ball, but for me football is an escape. It is even vital for our mental balance!", Explains AFP Mourad Sefiane , pro-PSG influencer known for his "leaks" of future Parisian jerseys.

"There are people who do yoga to calm down. For my part, I need to yell, to be at the stadium, to support my team, to be well," added an ultra from a French club, deprived of his "therapy" at least until August.

"It's as if there were no more dealers," jokes Mehdi, an airport agent "addicted" to OM.

Since the end of competitions in March, a young Briton, Jamie Towers, has been counting the days on social networks. To the point of cracking, on the "14th day without football", a smoke bomb at his window to celebrate a victory ... on Football Manager!

Downloadable free of charge from March 18 to April 1 to help better withstand confinement, the famous coaching game was acclaimed by 877,400 active players over the period, according to its publisher SI Games.

- Belarus, the punters' refuge -

"As soon as the confinement was announced, I said to myself: + As I have time, I will take the Red Star (3rd division) and try to go to the Champions League +. For 10 days, I played non-stop from 10:00 am to 11:00 pm, especially since there is a much more addictive side on Football Manager than on FIFA ", says Cédric, Franco-Italian fan of Inter Milan.

"When you spend every day of the year consuming football, you have to continue a little even if there is none. The weaning period takes a little time," he adds. he.

For those more in need of physical contact with the ball, the alternative was called "PQ challenge": a juggling challenge with a roll of toilet paper that has gone viral on the web since several stars launched the movement.

The only technical gestures to get your teeth into for punters used to bet their savings on a hat-trick by Lionel Messi are rather exotic.

"The BATE Borisov is the Barça of our confinement" is also one of the formulas found by the operator Parions Sport to promote its championship odds ... Belarusian, one of the only ones in activity since March.

"Belarus is complicated, we don't really know the team compositions or the injured players (laughs). But since there were 4-5 days already played, I thought it was nice to try it, "said AFP Hervé Cohen, 38, a specialist in grids on Winamax.

- "Adrenaline" -

Used to betting "big sums" only on the five major European championships, this chartered accountant only bet 15 euros on the exploits of Neman Grodno or FC Minsk ... for more than 470 euros in winnings!

For other lovers of the "beautiful game", more attentive to the quality of the show, there are reruns of legendary matches on classic sports channels, deprived of "live" content, or the specialized platform Footballia.

With more than 17,000 matches in its catalog, this site allows the youngest as well as the most nostalgic to (re) discover the recital of Pelé at the 1970 World Cup or the drama of Seville in 1982.

"I was making a list of the best matches in the Champions League over the last 30 years and I came across Nantes-Juventus in 1996 (3-2 in the semi-final return, Editor's note). I was not even aware that Nantes had made such a performance at Beaujoire! "Says Thibault, a 31-year-old Francilien.

This kind of "classic", this fanatic from Liverpool, forced into partial unemployment, has swallowed up more than twenty since the start of confinement: "Nothing can replace the adrenaline of a real match, but I try to compensate with something else so as not to make my brain forget the football drug. "

© 2020 AFP