Le Havre (AFP)

"It's a bit of a return to normal life": for the first time in four months, a meeting with an elite club was disputed in front of 5,000 spectators in France, the limit gauge set by the government, Sunday at Haven with PSG headlining.

Beyond the biting return on the grounds of Neymar, Kylian Mbappé and the other stars of PSG, perfectly launched in their commando mission to win the national cups and the "Final 8" of the Champions League, the demonstration against the HAC (9-0) is a small event for French and European football.

"It is a victory for French football, sport in general, to be able to resume today in mid-July with the public in the stadiums," rejoiced Sunday Roxana Maracineanu, the Minister for Sports, who traveled to Normandy, where she met Edouard Philippe, her former prime minister, in the stands.

"I am delighted that football in France can resume in a popular way, with the public in the stadiums. It is the only country in Western Europe to be able to do this," she said just before the coup sending.

For the first time in four months in one of the countries of the five major European championships (Spain, England, Germany, Italy, France), a meeting with an elite club is in fact disputed in front of spectators.

- Complete in just six minutes -

For the big occasion, the Océane stadium, still adorned in some places with the dressing for the 2019 Women's World Cup, has put everything in place for this life-size test to be conclusive in terms of health. Failing to see his team deliver to PSG a major opposition on the ground ...

Filtering entry with respect for social distancing, compulsory masks, or even broadcasting a clip on giant screens reminding barrier gestures, nothing has been overlooked. Even if the public has taken some liberties on certain instructions.

"It's a bit of a return to normal life even if there are drastic conditions," said AFP Johan Vattier, president of the Lebarians Barbarians, the main group of supporters of the dean club. "We don't care about PSG, this match is first of all a way to find our friends!"

"It is not easy for a group like ours to enforce the instructions because we are used to being huddled together but we will try to respect as much as possible because we do not have want it to be a sword in the water, he added. We want the season to resume with the public. "

Alan, 20, student in Le Havre but proudly sported PSG jersey, is one of the privileged few who managed to get one of the thousands of sesame sold, all taken by storm in just six minutes despite a price between 30 and 60 euros.

"It's been a dream since I was very young, I never had the opportunity to see Paris at the Parc des Princes. The fact that they come here, I couldn't miss that!", Testifies the young support.

Despite the risk of a second wave and the apprehension of returning to a stadium? "Clearly when I saw that there was Paris, I didn't even think about it (laughs), he admits. I missed football with the public outright. In camera, it's a bit annoying on TV. "

© 2020 AFP