Paris (AFP)

Close to the players but not to his management, passionate tactician but indifferent to his image, in the history of PSG for both his accomplishments and his failures, Thomas Tuchel has built a team that resembles him, on the way to reaching the eighth of the League on Tuesday champions.

In the year of the club's 50th anniversary, Paris SG has revisited one of its classics, which evokes the pre-Qatari era: the "November crisis", this cursed period where the results follow the trajectory of falling leaves.

In the storm, after two defeats in the first three days of C1, the German remained straight.

His team rectified the situation, with a success on the ground of Manchester United (3-1), last Wednesday, which carried the mark of its winning choices.

One point against Basaksehir Istanbul will be enough for Parisians to relive a European spring.

But for Tuchel, critics will remain at the foot of the tree, in a city that shuns him.

Arrived in 2018, the Bavarian, 47, remains contested while he succeeded where his predecessor Unai Emery had failed, by uniting the dressing room of superstars, including Neymar, behind his project.

The epic of Lisbon, where PSG reached for the first time in its history the final of the C1, lost against Bayern (1-0), embodied the "spirit" claimed by the German, still inclined to give big hugs to his players.

- "A gift" -

"He managed to create a very solid group. He is a young coach, he has ideas, a very good character with us. We are good with him", summarizes midfielder Marco Verratti.

"Managing around 30 players, with a lot of important players, it's difficult. He managed to create a good rapport with everyone."

"He speaks to me a little in German", commented to AFP Juan Bernat, passed by Bayern.

"He gave me confidence from day one."

Tuchel often said last season that coaching PSG was "a gift".

And if the world stopped at the Camp des Loges fence, they might be the happiest.

The native of Krumbach, with a career as a defender quickly interrupted by injuries, is a follower of the blackboard, who learned his trade on the job, starting from the youth teams of Stuttgart.

Revealed in the Bundesliga in Mainz (2009-2014), then passed through Dortmund (2015-2017), his stellar trajectory is reminiscent of that of Jürgen Klopp.

But the comparison with the charismatic Liverpool coach (53) sheds light on what Tuchel does not have: a special relationship with the fans.

"Klopp wants to be an idol. Tuchel, he is not interested in marketing, in his image. He is interested in his work, he wants to be judged for his work and only that", decrypts Daniel Meuren, author of a biography on Tuchel.

"For my publishers, another book on Klopp would have been more interesting than on Tuchel. It sells more!", Smiles the German journalist.

- Getting mad -

With two small tweets in two years in Paris, "TT" is not its best defender when it comes to putting out the fire born of disappointing results.

Worse, social networks are now watching his rants, as when he provokes a journalist by asking him if he has the "c ..." to question the players on their state of form.

The difficult end of the 2018-2019 season, marked by the pitiful elimination in the round of 16 second leg of C1 by Manchester United and the Coupe de France final lost on penalties against Rennes, took Tuchel away from the supporters.

The bond has barely tightened after winning the four national trophies and the C1 final reached the following year.

The clash, at the start of the school year, on the transfer window which opposed him to the sporting director Leonardo, and raised the threat of dismissal, ended up forging him the image of an isolated coach, even in lack of recognition.

It is his counterpart from Marseille André Villas-Boas who raised his voice to be surprised at the absence of Tuchel among the nominees for the 2020 FIFA trophy for best coach, "a scandal" according to him.

At the end of the contract this summer, without negotiations being underway, Tuchel is heading towards a departure in June.

Seven months to complete three years of success and incomprehension: it remains to find the conclusion of this chapter which will have marked the history of the club.

© 2020 AFP