If Paris Saint-Germain is currently exclusively focused on his eighth final return from the Champions League that he will play Tuesday evening in Liverpool (9 p.m.), another big meeting is fast approaching. On March 16, Luis Enrique's men will welcome Olympique de Marseille (8:45 p.m., 26th day of Ligue 1). A “classic” which will be refereed by a certain Clément Turpin.
The Professional Football League communicated on Monday the name of the referee who will officiate at the Parc des Princes. And it is therefore Clément Turpin, forty-two years, figure of French arbitration in Europe, which will take care of the meeting. It will be the 296th first division match that he will run. And it will not be the first, but the seventh time that the man with the whistle will take care of a “classic”, including three PSG-OM in the league (two Parisian victories and a draw).
Paris and Marseille, to each their objectives
Still on the side of statistics concerning the referee from the Lyon region, it will be fourteenth match of the season. Even if a chasm separates Paris and Marseille, this duel will nevertheless oppose the first to the second in the ranking. After twenty-five days, PSG has sixty-six points to its counter, sixteen more than its Marseille pursuer. Each team will actually have very different first objectives.
On the one hand, Paris will try to preserve its invincibility since the start of the season on the hexagonal scene. No defeat indeed for the partners of Bradley Barcola in twenty-five outings, with only five draws for twenty victories. On the Marseille side, the goal will be to do what is necessary so as not to lose and keep a little ahead of the direct pursuers, namely Nice (third at three points) and Monaco (fourth at five points).
