Marseilles (AFP)

"Are we coming to take their Eiffel Tower from them?": In Marseille, OM supporters would prefer to see PSG lose Sunday in the final, and remain the only French winners of the Champions League.

Worried about possible incidents on Sunday, the prefect of police of Bouches-du-Rhône had banned the wearing of the Parisian jersey on the Old Port, before turning around, only encouraging PSG fans to be discretionary.

The case left Marseille supporters doubtful. For them, the historic rivalry with PSG is above all a "matter of folklore".

"We sleep, we laugh," comments Hocine Sadoune, 19, who says he "used to make fun" of part of his Parisian family about the round ball.

"It's part of folklore, nothing serious," adds the mischievous Marseille who "anyway does not intend to watch the final" Sunday between the German club Bayern Munich and Paris SG.

For Hocine and his band of friends, there is no question that OM, the only French club to have won the title in 1993 (1-0 against AC Milan), shares the star embroidered on his jersey with his best enemy: "Are we coming to take their Eiffel Tower from them?", launches the talkative supporter.

"When I saw that PSG had won" in the semi-finals, "I thought I was going to cry," said the young man.

Wearing the Bavarian jersey, this young inhabitant of one of the popular districts of the north of the city watched Wednesday "with relief" the defeat of OL, another great rival, in the semi-final, seated on the terrace of one of the rare downtown cafes to broadcast the game.

In La Plaine, a festive place usually popular with supporters, the bars had chosen to shun the queen club competition.

- "Cheap" -

"What Champions League?", Pretends to ignore David Alcaraz, owner of the bar in La Plaine, stronghold of the "too powerful Marseille", a fan club with 3,700 members.

This year it is "that of the coronavirus. It is at a discount", comments the forty-something, smirking behind his counter.

For PSG, which often suffers from criticism from its supporters, "it's easier ... to play in an empty stadium," argues the manager.

The Parisians "have no chance of winning" against the Bavarian club, he adds. “They have a big team, but for us they will always play badly!” Said David, admitting some bad faith with a laugh.

Sunday? He will watch the Simpsons on TV, he slips maliciously, because he too would like the star embroidered on the jersey, synonymous with victory, to be reserved for the azure blue one of OM. "But from there to prohibiting the wearing of the PSG jersey ...".

"We must let people dress as they want. They are in the final, that's how it is!", Adds David, fatalistic. And he promises, with a burst of laughter, "to close his bar for a week if the Parisians win.

"But I think I have more luck going to the Oktoberfest to celebrate the German victory."

"It's a French club, anyway!", Nuance on his side Yacine Ayach. "The Marseillais do not want to share their title because it is true that it is the only thing they have," he tackles.

The young Hocine tries to reassure himself by taking up "the mantra" dear to Marseille supporters: "Whatever happens, we will be the first forever ... but perhaps no longer the only ones, it's true".

© 2020 AFP