Paris is perhaps the most productive city for player development in the world. But could you beat one of the richest, most global clubs in football using only players from the City of Lights? Martin Vert has been set that challenge.
2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25
It’s April, so we’re on the lookout for fools. And number one candidate today is the Dickhead-in-Chief, Mauricio Pochettino. Not only has he lost yet another Champions League early on, despite his ridiculous spend and his insistence that international recruitment is the key to success. Not only did he use a late, tough win against us (smallest budget in the league, but who’s counting?) to justify that policy. But he’s just lost to Lyon, losing the chance at making history this season. Couldn’t happen to a more deserving bloke, the chequebook-flouncing wanker.
Oh, and Steve is a fool too. Obviously.
My maths is shaky at the best of times, but I make it one more win, and Monaco losing, and we will be secure in the Champions League once again. Our next three games are eminently winnable before we end the month with a visit from the always problematic Troyes, so even if Monaco don’t slip up we should be making April count. First up is mid-table Reims, who are just three points from the European places and, admittedly, are in great form, with six wins from their last seven. So as winnable as the game is, we do need to turn up.
We come away with a win by the odd goal, but it could have been so much better. For starters, Reims only scored right at the death when our concentration went; concerning, but not emblematic of the game as a whole. But more than that are the chances we waste. We hit the post twice and the bar once, and their goalkeeper is busy with what we do get on target. Another day would have been 5-0, but a win is a win is a win, and we’ll take it however it comes at this stage of the season.
Strasbourg are another of those mid-table sides with European pretensions. They have been marginally better than Reims over the course of the season, and considering they haven’t spent a penny you have to respect what Peter Stoger has achieved so far. But their form has been a bit wobbly since the turn of the year, and they are prone to conceding a goal here and there, so I want another win.
What. A. Performance! We put our stamp on the game from the first minute, and don’t look back. On 15, Christ Mukelenge steals in at the back post to turn home an Alpha Sissoko cross to give us the lead, and on 32 he runs onto a Huard through ball to get his second. But he saves his best for the third, picking up the ball deep on 42 minutes and running at first the full back, and then the centre back, beating both and squeezing it in at the near post. And then, to top it all off, he wins a penalty before half time to give Tattevin his 20th goal of the season. I’m tempted to push on in the second half, but that just isn’t the Red Star way. We close up shop, stifle our opponents, and come away with a great victory.
As I prepare for our next game, the lads are in the supporter’s club with the fans watching PSG host Monaco, and wouldn’t you know it, Monaco pick up a point. The place is in uproar – that point guarantees our place in next season’s Champions League – and I allow myself a little smile. We’ve done it again. This club is building. It’s going places. Before long, all the money in the world won’t stop us.
Before that though, there is Saint-Etienne. They have been ensconced in the relegation dogfight all season, and currently sit in the relegation playoff zone. My money is on them staying up, they have a small gap to the actual relegation places and, even if they end up in the playoffs, the Stade Geoffrey-Guichard is so intimidating that they’ll have a huge home advantage. But we don’t want to make it too easy for them.
It’s a solid, if unspectacular performance. We cause them problems all day long, especially down the right where Traore has a great game, winning the penalty that Tattevin puts away to give us the lead, and then scoring himself after getting onto the end of a sumptuous Camara through ball. I take the opportunity in the second half to bring on Daury and, for his first senior appearance, Basic. They cope well, without really getting going, and we see the game out.
The win is enough to secure second place, and automatic entry into the group stages of the Champions League, which is a huge achievement for us. To overturn the odds again so convincingly – we were relegation favourites at the start of the season – is a clear signal that we have arrived. Our finances are good, the squad is good, and things are looking promising. Now if only we could find that damn stadium we’d be laughing.
Our final game of the month sees the visit of Troyes to the Pierre-Brisson. They are fifth and in a very good place for European football, something that will be an achievement for them too considering, like us, they were in Ligue 2 just two years ago. There’s a kind of friendly rivalry between us and Savo Milosevic’s men; we enjoy a glass of wine after the game, and compare our recruitment strategies, but with none of the condescension that I get from Aliou Cisse and Mauricio Pochettino. Doesn’t mean we’re going to just give them points, though. We’re in a bit of a problematic place, with tired players and Brandon Soppy just back from injury yesterday to replace the suspended Alpha Sissoko. We’ll see what we can do.
It’s a typical end of season performance from us both, which is irritating for me but must be infuriating for Troyes who are still playing for stuff. The first hour passes with literally not a single highlight, which is actually fine by me; I’d rather be solid than end-to-end. But on 76 minutes the away side find the net with their only real chance of the game. Rey Manaj is looking like the best €300k ever spent in France, he just keeps doing it for Troyes and only PSG’s overpaid prima donnas have more attacking output. But we push forward and cause them problems for the final 15 minutes, and in the end Daury drills across the box and Brahimi fires home an equaliser. Which is a nice way to celebrate his contract extension.
We finish the month with our Champions League place secured, and I’m glad for that because our season ends with a difficult fixture away at Nice, and an interesting game at Lens, so I wouldn’t have wanted to go into those with something on the line. As it is, we are secure, we have bettered our performance from last season, and we are slowly, slowly building to greatness.
We aim to keep this site ad-free. Please help us by donating below.
2 thoughts on “This is Paris: April ’25”
Comments are closed.