Hubert Fournier’s young charges will roll back the past years when they travel to Paris to take on Carlo Ancelotti’s group of Galacticos of Paris Saint-Germain
As Paris Saint-Germain play host to newly-promoted Stade de Reims at Parc des Princes, great names of French football’s past and present will be there to witness an epic game between two sides who have contrasting histories altogether.
Contrasting histories
50 years ago, a Stade de Reims side, blessed with some of the best footballing talent in Europe like Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine won six Ligue 1 Championelles and played twice in the finals of the European cup.
Today, it is Paris Saint-Germain who are the most talked about team in French football following the massive investment on stars made by the club’s Qatari owners.
The two teams have never met in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/France-c2899’s top flight since the 1978/79 season. At that time, a fledgling PSG managed to beat Reims on the final day of a season the Champagne club would not want to talk about.
As PSG stabilised, Reims came to the verge of extinction but were saved by a miracle.
However, three decades of trauma and misery are now behind them as the new-look Reims side started catching up to other teams back in 2009 in the third division, thanks to the arrival of Hubert Fournier who is one of the most important reasons why the club
is where it is right now.
Currently sitting in an astonishing sixth place in the Ligue 1 behind Lorient FC, Stade de Reims should have no reason to fear PSG who boast the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thiago-Silva-c34903, two players who were signed this summer with an aim to life the
Ligue 1 crown.
Long-awaited return and good run of form
The start of the club’s long-awaited return to top tier football was not good after successive defeats. However, since then, the Champagne club has gone on a six-game unbeaten run which has for the time being, silenced the doubters.
One thing that should concern Fournier is the fact that his side have secured bulk of their 14 points at home and are yet to register an away win despite drawing in their last two travels. And, it seems unlikely that they will leave the capital with three
points.
Unbeaten
Along with Bordeaux, who drew 1-1 at home to Lille last night, Carlo Ancelotti’s side is the only team in the league that is yet to loose and it would be considered a failure if they are unable to register another win in the league.
Furthermore, with the wealth of talent at his disposal, the Italian would ask for nothing less than three points against a side that is still feeling its way in France’s top tier. Due to the international break, the club’s midweek training sessions were
sparsely populate and Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva missed Thursday’s training session.
Quotes
Pires cheering on for hometown club
France and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/U-17-Youth-team-c40787 of Stade de Reims before signing a professional contract with Metz, is excited at the prospect of seeing a team he cheered on as a kid register an unlikely win against PSG.
"If Reims can get a result at the Parc des Princes people will really sit up and take notice," said the former Marseille player. "And maybe they'll go on to have a great season. So come on guys, I really think you can do something special at the Parc des
Princes!"
Cope with what comes
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Kevin-Gameiro-c20721 knows that international break did disrupt the team’s plans for the Stade de Reims test but has said that players will do everything they can to win against a team that wants to prove a point to the footballing world.
“It’s going to be a tricky game. We’ll do everything we can to try and win, we’re at home. Reims want to play though, want to show what they can do in Ligue 1. It’s always difficult to play these kinds of teams as they’re focussed,” says the former Lorient
striker.
Rafael Nadal as guest of honour
PSG chairman, Nasser Al-Khelaifi has invited tennis star, Rafael Nadal to watch the game against Stade de Reims. A huge football fan, the seven-time French Open winner's home is not far away from Parc des Princes and is bound to be excited at the prospect
of seeing a good game.
Predictions
Although Stade de Reims will be pumped up for a big game, Hubert Fournier’s men will understandably find it hard to stop rampant PSG who have set their eyes on displacing rivals http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Olympique-de-Marseille-c40127 on the summit of Ligue 1. However, a defeat against such
a talented side should not be considered a failure for Reims who have a good thing going on at the moment.
Predicted finals score: PSG 2-0 Reims
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