‘This is Italy’ – Marseille supporters prepare for Champions League final | OneFootball

The season is over for Olympique de Marseille, the Stade Vélodrome now echoing not with chants but with concerts—Jul last weekend, Bruce Springsteen tomorrow. Yet in the Phocaean city, football never truly stops, especially when Paris Saint-Germain are chasing Europe’s ultimate prize. There isn’t yet a French expression that captures the term ‘hate-watch’, but Saturday evening will see Inter Milan have the backing of Marseille.“À jamais les premiers,”(Forever the first winners) – a phrase loaded with local pride – will technically still ring true if PSG win the Champions League on Saturday evening. But any crumb of happiness given to the old enemy rears the head of disgust among most in France’s oldest city…

“This is Italy here,” he chuckled OM supporter Michel Baudon, speaking to L’Équipe and pointing toward Marseille’s Panier district. “It was founded by Italian fishermen’s families. We love football, we respect that Paris have a great team- but they must lose. If you’re Marseillais and you support PSG, you’re either mad or you want to be thrown into the sea.”

Even past OM heroes haven’t escaped scrutiny. Didier Deschamps and Zinédine Zidane are granted a pass – “they’re national figures”—but Basile Boli’s public support for PSG last weekend ruffled feathers. “Boli should’ve stayed quiet, like Di Meco, who’s backing Inter,” says his father Georges – both are members of Marseille’s South Winners ultra group.Meanwhile at the Nul Part Ailleurs restaurant on the Vieux-Port, waitress Alexia, isn’t hiding her stance either. “We’ll show the match, but if someone celebrates a Paris goal—we turn off the TV. I don’t want them getting that star. It’s ours. Forever.”Even bar owners are hesitant. Serge Coulomb, who runs Le 15, won’t show the final at all. “I’ve never screened PSG and I’m not starting now. Win or lose, things could get messy,” he reasons. “We’ll already be busy with Springsteen fans. No need for extra drama.”

For Matthieu, director of OM Café, the match is more burden than opportunity. “We’ll show it, but with no sound. It’s not worth the fuss. If PSG win, we’ll get calls until 4 a.m. We just want to cash up in peace.”GFFN | George Boxall