Champions League: why Paris Saint-Germain has already won the image battle

This is the sports editorial of Virginie Phulpin. PSG receives Manchester City this Wednesday evening in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League. Yesterday evening, everywhere between Real Madrid and Chelsea, with a sublime goal from Karim Benzema. For you, in this last square of the competition, the Parisians have already won one thing: the battle of the image.   

Casually, they are going to have a lot of supporters across Europe tonight. PSG are the only semi-finalists to have said no to the Super League hated by the fans. In one week, the Parisian club has gone from the symbol of the evil alliance of football and money to that of resistance in the front line against football business. Admit it's tasty. President Nasser Al Khelaifi in Che Guevara of popular football and muse of united supporters of all countries, I would not have bet a bitcoin on that 10 days ago.

But PSG was not just the big bad wolf who disrupts the market with its bottomless crates before, nor did it turn into a benefactor lamb of humanity in love with football afterwards.

Nasser Al Khelaifi just has more effective political know-how than this clumsy Florentino Pérez.

The president of Real Madrid and his accomplice of Juventus Andrea Agnelli violently descended from their pedestal after their failed putsch.

And during that time, the president of PSG took the lead just by saying "no".

The new strongman of European football is him.

Appointed president of the ECA, the representative body of clubs, seen as a savior by UEFA, and now respected by football fans.

Yes, PSG and its president have changed status.

And they won the image battle.

This image is a little too good to be totally true. 

The stories of good guys and bad guys, past kindergarten, we know that they are only caricatures.

PSG has defended the values ​​of football, it is true, and that is not an easy task these days.

But let's be honest.

The club has also and above all defended its interests.

Before the World Cup in Qatar, it is better to show the white paw.

Nasser Al Khelaifi also has some legal pots that it is better to hide behind the poster of the values ​​of sport.

And then the PSG needs less money than legitimacy.

So it was the perfect opportunity to make a place for yourself among the greats.

Now that the battle for the image is won, the ground remains. We come back to it, finally. After a final last year, after eliminating Barça and Bayern this year, it's the same, PSG has grown on that side too. The leaders defended the UEFA Champions League behind the scenes. Tonight, it's about conquering her with the ball. Which is still a bit more exciting.