Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille will take part in the third installment of Le Classique this weekend. The derby between the two biggest clubs in France has become a war of words for Neymar Jr. and Álvaro González.
In the first meeting this season, Neymar accused González of making racist comments as both men were exchanging verbal jabs throughout the match as OM came out with a 1-0 win.
The dispute spilled over to social media, where both engaged on Twitter with posts directed at one another. The Ligue de Football Professionnel investigated the racial incident involving Neymar and González but didn’t hand out any suspension.
After the Trophée des Champions, where PSG picked up a 2-1 win, the two again exchanged jabs on Twitter. Neymar posted a picture directed towards González. The Marseille defender responded with his tweet, stating that his parents taught him to take out the garbage, which was accompanied by a photo of him grabbing Neymar’s head.
During his interview with So Foot (via Canal Supporters), PSG captain Marquinhos touched on the rivalry between PSG and Marseille. Furthermore, he discussed how it leaked over to social media.
“Social networks are tricky. You can spoof nicely, but if you overstep the line, it can end up hurting you. Ney likes to put on a show, on and off the pitch. It’s his way of being, he’s like that, he likes to tease,” Marquinhos said.
“He has this dispute with this player from Marseille, he has chambered it a bit, that’s all. If he had really crossed the line, I would have told him. There, in this case, there was nothing very bad.”
Marquinhos adds that he would’ve been surprised Marseille supporters would be behind PSG winning the UEFA Champions League in their matchup against FC Bayern Munich. The Brazil international says that seeing your rivals fail is apart of the football folklore.
“Frankly, we didn’t expect the Marseillais to be behind us on the day of the final against Bayern. It would have been really surprising,” Marquinhos said. “Celebrating the defeats of the rival club is part of football folklore. When I was younger, I celebrated the failures of Palmeiras as much as some of the victories of the Corinthians.”
“When your team can’t win, all you have to do is pray that the rival doesn’t either. For now, Marseille is the only French club to have won a Champions League, and their supporters are clinging to that. Their celebration was more relief than joy.”
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