A prestige battle between two clubs with an unsurpassed football ego. The Champions League clash PSG – Real Madrid will be a battle between two clubs that went through a quick fight separation last year. Formerly loyal partners linked by their presidents, now cool lovers dispersed by conflicting interests.
Try to imagine it…
Tonight Guy Savoy, voted the best restaurant in the world, was normally fully booked with couples in love celebrating Valentine’s Day.
However, the star restaurant on the banks of the Seine in Paris has its fixed closing day on Monday. Even for Cupid, the doors won’t open.
For whom an exception is made: Nasser Al-Khelaïfi. The Qatari owner of Paris Saint-Germain invariably receives fellow club owners in the very expensive establishment for the traditional dinner in the run-up to European matches.
So tonight Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez will join, but there will not be much love in the air during the dinner.
Wandering in the stands of Roland Garros
However, the two heavyweights of world top football still got along very well in the recent past.
Al-Khelaïfi and Pérez develop a bond after negotiations over trainer Carlo Ancelotti, who will move from Paris to Madrid in the summer of 2013.
Afterwards, the duo is spotted together several times during informal events. For example, Pérez appears in the VIP box of the Qatari (himself an ex-pro player) during Roland Garros. The two tennis enthusiasts also frolic side-by-side during a tournament in Doha.
No coincidence, because Pérez also has a lot of business interests in the oil state of Qatar. In addition to Real Madrid, he heads Grupo ACS, one of the largest construction companies in the world with many lucrative multi-million dollar projects in the desert.
Over the years, Pérez’s admiration for Al-Khelaïfi’s vigorous sporting regime has grown. Especially when the Qatari buys Barça goldcrest Neymar for a record amount of 222 million euros in 2017, his Spanish colleague is deeply impressed by the Parisian clout. And then a second superstar had to follow with Kylian Mbappé…
Pérez realizes: PSG would rather be a friend than an enemy.
Tensions around Super League
It ensures that the Real chairman in the building process of a new team with Los Galácticos does not dare to push for PSG stars such as Neymar and Mbappe for a long time, despite the mutual love with the latter.
During a dinner on the eve of a mutual European confrontation in 2019, Pérez does not even mention the Mbappé case “out of respect”. There are, however, some friendship deals taking place between the two clubs. Such as the swap agreement with goalkeepers Keylor Navas and Alphonse Areola.
But in April 2021 there will be noise on the bond between the superpowers. The controversial plans surrounding the Super League ensure that the two clubs are diametrically opposed.
Florentino Pérez is one of the driving forces behind the Super League plans.
Pérez is one of the major driving forces behind the agreement of 12 top European clubs to separate into a new competition. PSG was also involved in the first talks, but subsequently withdraws its tail for various reasons.
For example, beIN, the television channel of Al-Khelaïfi, is the rights holder of the Champions League. In addition, the Qatari also holds an important position within UEFA. After the nuclear boom around the Super League, the strong man of PSG even becomes chairman of the ECA, the federation for clubs.
Pérez remains behind his plans, which does not benefit the relationship with Al-Khelaïfi in the least.
War of words around Mbappé
The beginning of a cold war between Paris and Madrid.
Since the first cracks in the marriage, Pérez never misses a moment to point the finger at PSG’s greedy spending pattern.
It is also the signal for the spry 74-year-old Spaniard to intensively hunt for the signature of dream target Kylian Mbappé. The Real chairman has announced his love for the French top striker in the media and will make an offer of no less than 180 million euros in the summer.
At PSG they don’t laugh at the overt flirtation and they sweep the offer off the table without wasting a lot of words. Despite Mbappe’s expiring contract.
Kylian Mbappe has been the subject of a battle between PSG and Real for years.
When Pérez hints at an imminent arrival of the Frenchman a few weeks later, a public war of words ensues through the press. PSG in particular shoots sharp: “This has to stop”, says sporting director Leonardo. “Real has not behaved properly towards us for two years by contacting Kylian’s entourage. It is unacceptable and illegal.”
The whole feud turns the Champions League confrontation between them into an unprecedented battle of prestige on and off the field. Part one is scheduled for Tuesday evening. In the shadow of the Eiffel Tower and with Kylian Mbappé still in the shirt of the Parisians.
Would Pérez dare to drop the name during dinner?
