Domestic success contemplating for broader fear at Paris's solitary club with 'El Loco' in a ligue of his own

In a ligue of his own: Marcelo Bielsa has rejuvenated Ligue 1 leaders Marseille

The groans reverberated around Paris’s banilieus and arrondissements, the numerous classic Parisian cafes which line its attractive streets. The pass, and the moment, emanated from Thiago Motta’s Mizuno boots. Edinson Cavani had made his move, an incisive dart across the Chelsea resistance, shifting goalside of John Terry and Gary Cahill. Motta’s crossfield pass, launched from the half of Stamford Bridge belonging temporarily to Paris Saint-Germain, was luscious in his wonderful entirety. Cavani was set, his left foot primed to send PSG into the semi-finals of the Champions League, but the Uruguayan failed to convert, instead sending the ball into the Matthew Harding Stand, and in doing so, sent Laurent Blanc raging with fury on the touchline.

The moment had arrived, but PSG had fluffed their lines. Minutes later, Demba Ba dashed their European dream.

A new nemesis

It did not last for long, though. A few weeks later, PSG were crowned Ligue 1 champions two games before the French league’s culmination. Blanc’s side had downed the spirited challenge from Monaco, who had contested the title for most of the season. For, though domestic success was guaranteed earlier, now they had to think about the broader fear which had begun to infiltrate Parc des Princes.

The aforementioned angst is ever more prominent now. A far more menacing proposition now represents PSG’s domestic nemesis, stiffening the competition in the French top-flight with a rise dubbed as ‘le reprise’, or ‘the recovery’, by the entranced French sports media. Olympique Marseille’s revival has been the story of the French football season thus far, conjured up by the mercurial excellence of Marcelo Bielsa, Marseille’s enigmatic Argentinian manager.

‘Bielsamania’

The Argentinian’s impact has been dramatic, galvanising a team criticised for their perceived lethargy under the previous regimes of Elie Baup and Jose Anigo. Bielsa’s managerial philosophy has rejuvenated Marseille, a style revered by the decorated likes of Mauricio Pochettino, Jorge Sampaoli and Pep Guardiola.

It is little wonder that the aforementioned three have established themselves as managers of high competency, and are now Bielsa’s venerated protégés. The Argentinian’s doctrine has asserted its ingenuity upon French football.

Bielsa preaches a philosophy of pressing with intensity and exploiting vulnerable space. ‘El Loco’, as he is affectionately renown as, is the ambassador of attention to detail, a student of a vast library of match videos and stats, an observer of pitch dimensions of tape.

A notorious story is told of Bielsa, a sequence of events which occured prior to Guardiola’s Barcelona’s away voyage to Athletic Bilbao, managed at the time by Bielsa. The Argentinian strived to ensure water was applied on the pitch to thwart Barcelona’s smooth and effective tiki-taka style.

And his obsessive ways are paying off.

Marseille occupy top spot in Ligue 1, leading champions PSG by a solitary point. 12 wins out of 17 stand trial to Bielsa’s impact at the French club, as they continue to retain their grip on Ligue 1 with their 3-1 victory over Metz on Sunday evening.

Andre Pierre Gignac, rejuvenated thanks to Bielsa’s unerring faith, is second only to Alexandre Lacazette in the ‘classement de buteurs’, with 12 goals epitomising the turn-around Marseille have experienced under Bielsa’s stewardship. ‘Le reprise’ is in full swing amid El Loco’s madness, and it is perturbing PSG.

Broader fears for PSG

Yet for Blanc’s Parisians, worries of greater magnitude exist. There is a sense within Parc des Princes that the academy is being simply marginalised, with promising attacking prospect Kingsley Coman sold to Juventus and Adrien Rabiot touted for a move abroad. There is rife speculation that Rabiot will join Tottenham Hotspur, headlines that will further exacerbate the fear engulfing PSG.

The broader fear, though, is much more menacing. It is the trepidation that the investment of gargantuan proportions of Qatar Sports Investments will never be fully vindicated. Cavani’s blunder at Chelsea hardly reflected £55 million commitment made by PSG to sign the Uruguayan.

But as long as PSG continue to dominate French football, though their flow somewhat disrupted by ‘le reprise’, their domestic success will contemplate for the broader fear seizing Paris’s solitary club.