The celebration was short. Sober. Perhaps a little too much, some will think, for a player who represented PSG, Paris and everything that this club and this city can have, both beautiful and excessive, romantic and annoying. Marco Verratti is no longer a Paris Saint-Germain player and, even if he was not entitled to his last minutes in the Rouge & Bleu jersey, he will still have had the privilege of an official farewell to the Parc des Princes. It’s more than other Parisian legends.
It was a little after 8:10 p.m. when all his teammates and staff appeared on the pitch, dressed in a “Thank you Marco” t-shirt, to give him a guard of honor. The stands of the Parc des Princes are not half full and yet, among those who came early to celebrate the “Little Hibou”, many, more than usual, had their jerseys flocked with the number 6 – or, for the oldest, from 24.
Supporters between tenderness and regrets
Like Mélanie, 35 years old, an unconditional PSG fan who came specially from the North for the match on a day off. “It was my favorite, I’m disgusted,” she laments, moved. I was at Ibra’s last match, Pauleta’s, now Verratti… it’s at the same level for me. He was a bit put aside by the club, thrown away… it wasn’t very nice. But I’m very happy to be able to say goodbye to him. »
The club did not particularly pull out all the stops to celebrate the “oldest Parisian player”, as introduced by Michel Montana, the speaker. A simple ceremony, a trophy, a jersey flocked with the 416, his number of matches with Paris, and a bouquet of flowers given to the player, arriving on the field with his wife and two children.
On the giant screens of the Park, the players who marked the Italian’s passage to Paris Saint-Germain follow one another to pay tribute to him. From Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who arrived the same day as him in the capital, to Thiago Silva, his captain for eight years, via Javier Pastore, Thiago Motta, Blaise Matuidi and Ezequiel Lavezzi, all acclaimed by the public at the Park when they appeared. Their words are gentle and underline the place that the Italian occupies in the history of a club that he joined as a young man and which he leaves as the most successful player in history. “You have become a great player, you will be my friend forever”, proclaimed “Ibra”.
One last moment of communion with the ultras
“He was one of the players I loved the most, for whom I had the most attachments,” explains Maxence, 26, Verratti jersey on his shoulders. He was a bit of an anti-star, he did the job without drawing the spotlight on himself, like others. And then, above all, he was an excellent football player (laughs). » Like others, he regrets that the Italian was not entitled to his last dance, his last match with Paris. “I find that his departure does not live up to his legend. »
Moved, with reddened eyes, Marco Verratti then began a final lap around the Park, his Park, of which he was the little prince. In front of the Auteuil stand, which had unfurled a banner for him (“a decade of magic, 30 trophies with Paris. A monument named Marco Verratti”), he enjoyed a beautiful moment of communion with the Parisian Ultras. He will say a few words to them on the microphone, which only they will hear. The same ultras, some of whom jeered at him a few months ago, bury the hatchet to the sound of a song too little heard in eleven years: “Italian and Parisian, the talent of a magician, Marco Verratti! “. And Marco couldn’t hold back his tears…
