The reaction of the Parc des Princes and its public was expected, four days after the debacle of too many PSG players in the Champions League on the lawn of Real Madrid. She didn’t disappoint, and she didn’t lack a touch of humor either. Two hours before kick-off, this Sunday, March 13, the first Ultras were already gathered in front of the entrance to the Auteuil bend with shopping bags filled with toilet paper. The reason ? “They got over it,” mocks a supporter.
When the PSG players appeared on the lawn, for the start of their warm-up at 12:30 p.m., the stadium’s bays were still two-thirds empty. This does not prevent the forces present from reserving a house bronca for the Parisians, even noisier than that reserved for the opponents of the day, and which the sound system of the Park was not enough to mask. A few minutes earlier, the goalkeepers (Keylor Navas, holder this Sunday, Gianluigi Donnarumma and Alexandre Letellier) had already been greeted with loud whistles. Only the stand reserved for children, located at the foot of the Auteuil bend, gives voice to the Rouge et Bleus.
Bronca at the announcement of the compositions and silence of the ultras
A quarter of an hour before kick-off, the start of the pre-match protocol is immediately accompanied by whistles from the Parisian public. The “Here it is?” ” traditional launched by the announcer Michel Montana is not followed. The announcement of the compositions was expected, rightly: all the Parisian names are whistled, more particularly those of Neymar, Messi and Pochettino. Only Kylian Mbappé is applauded by the whole stadium. The Auteuil bend, without the CUP at the kick-off, then launched its first song, and it did not leave much room for doubt: “Go get used to…”.
At kick-off, while the CUP still shuns the Auteuil stand, whistles accompany each ball taken by the Parisians, in particular towards Neymar and Messi, the main targets of the anger of the supporters. The Auteuil bend even acclaims a foul on Neymar in the second minute of play. Apart from whistling, the bend is walled in a deafening silence. We play the 8th minute when the first members of the CUP invest their seats in the lower stand of the bend, still in silence.
At the quarter of an hour of play, the first songs come down from the Auteuil bend: “Leaders resign”, “Paris is us”, “a team in Paris”, “we supporters will always be there”, “Freedom for the Ultras “, and others more flowery … Kylian Mbappé’s opener, acclaimed by the whole stadium, is quickly followed by a reaction from the turn: “We don’t give a damn…. “. The first banner is deployed in the 35th minute, while Auteuil accompanies the Girondines passes in the Parisian half of the field with “Olé! “: “Mbappé in Paris, Leonardo in the Pillory”.
Toilet paper and banners blocked at the entrance to the stadium
It is one of the rare banners which will have passed the doors of the Park. Another, asking for the resignation of management and deployed in the first period, is quickly withdrawn by the security service. According to several testimonies, others would not have passed an accentuated security service. Only a sober “Courage Bruno”, in tribute to the former Parisian player Bruno Rodriguez, is seen in the second half. At the break, the Auteuil bend split in two: the Ultras deserted the stands, some groups even left the stadium at the break, and the rest, including some of the supporters who bought their tickets on the resale platforms of places, remains silently installed. An early departure of the ultras no doubt caused by the fact that in addition to the banners, the famous planned toilet paper did not pass the gates of the stadium either.
The end of the match takes place, in the stadium, in a cathedral silence, only disturbed by a few last whistles. The players returned to the locker room without going to greet the supporters. Only Diallo, Kimpembe, Kehrer and Wijnaldum humbly approached the bend. And the dispute of magnitude expected on the Auteuil side will therefore have been, in part, muzzled.
