- Saturday (5.30 p.m.), PSG returns to Meinau, where it has suffered for the past two seasons in Ligue 1.
- In December 2017, led by their new duo Neymar-Mbappé, the Parisians even lost their first match of the season in Strasbourg.
- How did Racing do it? Explanations with Kader Mangane and Jérémy Grimm who were in the field that evening.
It was a small event at the time. This December 2, 2017 at Meinau, Racing had brought down PSG for the first time in the season (2-1). A Paris that then remained on 18 games without defeat in Ligue 1 and stuck beating all over Europe, including Bayern (3-0). "I remember that they had to go to Munich three days later," adds Jérémy Grimm, without wanting to take credit for his team.
The Strasbourg midfielder, who came in, is right. The champion of France did not show up with a team of painters in Alsace. No MCN at kick-off? There were still Neymar, Mbappé and Di Maria. Then Cavani, therefore, for the last quarter of an hour (and the 9 minutes of additional time!). This did not prevent Thierry Laurey's team from holding out until the end. How? 'Or' What ?
"They had been awkward but we hadn't stolen anything"
"We did not move too much from our 16 meters of the whole match and we scored on our two unique strikes", exaggerates Kader Mangane, who then paired with Baky Koné in central defense. In reality, Racing had shot 5 times on goal against ... 29 attempts for their opponent, who was also largely in control of the ball (74% possession).
"We must not hide it, we had a lot of success," jokes Jérémy Grimm, thinking back to this winning head of Da Costa (13th) then this raid of Bahoken (65th). Where PSG had equalized thanks to Mbappé (42nd) before seeing Draxler, Di Maria, Pastore or Kimpembe miss the frame. "They had been awkward but we hadn't stolen anything," says the Alsatian midfielder. I say it at the end of each match, we always have what we deserve. We had gone for that victory. Everyone had done the job and [we] had fought for each other. "
This unit, Kader Mangane had watched over it before the game. "Already in the locker room, I remember the speech of the coach, details the one who is now RC Strasbourg sports coordinator. He had launched "You want to play puppets? You will be ridiculous in front of all France and take 12-0". He had stung our pride. Then I gathered the whole team in the central circle and said that we had to behave like men. "
"Our attackers were on the halfway line"
Rewound to the top, over-motivated, Dimitri Liénard's teammates had also made an effort not to go beyond established tactics. "Our defense was very low," continues Mangane. With Baky, we shouldn't be caught in the depths by Mbappé. Before us, Aholou was instructed not to leave our triangle. And the whole team had to tighten the lines. I remember that our attackers [Da Costa, Bahoken and Terrier] were on the halfway line. "
With a clear mission: to harass, together, the ball carrier. “We thought that around each Parisian, we owed at least two. And if a first player or even a second were eliminated, a third should arrive with determination. A permanent commitment which had led the Strasbourg residents to commit 20 faults, for 4 yellow cards. "But by dint of showing our aggressiveness, we had the impression that the Parisians were making less efforts," adds the former defender. Unconsciously, they knew they had a Champions League match to play right after and they shouldn't get hurt. "
They have millions
We have passion
They have Neymar
We have Lienard
They have an armada
We have the grinta
They play the LDC
Coming back from the CFA
They came to drink mulled wine
We raised the Meinau # RCSPSG @RCSA @RCSLive @aubin_verley
A case that could happen again this Saturday, three days before the knockout round of the Champions League return against Dortmund ... "Maybe they will turn, but even the replacements are superior to us", admits Jérémy Grimm, who returns of a big injury and might not be in the group this weekend. “We know that a good result will first go through a good defense. " Racing knows how to do it and had proven it again in 2018 by boring, again, PSG (1-1).
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