Paris Saint-Germain made short work of Olympique de Marseille (5-0) during the Classic and regained the lead of the championship in Lens, Sunday evening at the end of the 21st day of Ligue 1.
Published on: 02/08/2026 - 10:42 p.m. Modified on: 02/09/2026 - 07:59
A clarification. Paris Saint-Germain (PSG), led by a great Ousmane Dembélé, resumed its good habits on Sunday February 8 at the Parc des Princes by humiliating (5-0) a non-existent Olympique de Marseille.
After a slack period of several weeks, Luis Enrique's players (51 points) returned to their best level for this shock of the season, regaining the lead in Ligue 1 in Lens (49 points), who beat Rennes (3-1) on Saturday.
Reinvigorated in all areas, the reigning European champions inflicted one of OM's heaviest defeats at the Parc des Princes.
A one-way “classic”
Sunday evening, the Parisians regained fluidity in the game, with more accomplished pressing, and managed to create chances in spades, precisely where the attackers have been failing in recent times.
“Ousmane Ballon d’Or”, chanted the Parc des Princes, in melting mood after the two goals in the first period from Ousmane Dembélé, who launched this one-sided “classic”.
Author of a double, the 2025 Ballon d'Or regained his serenity in front of goal and his incessant pressing on the Marseille defense, very often in great difficulty: he opened the scoring with a flat foot, ideally served by Nuno Mendes, who had himself been found on a delicious pass from Désiré Doué (1-0, 12th).
To (re)read Ballon d’Or 2025: Ousmane Dembélé, divine enigma and phoenix of French football
He then managed on his own to eliminate Leonardo Balerdi and Facundo Medina, before shooting hard under the bar of Jeffrey de Lange, preferred to Geronimo Rulli by Roberto De Zerbi (2-0, 37th).
While Paris seemed to scare OM and its opponents less with less certainty than last spring, the capital's club dominated this "classic" at all levels, launched by a few minutes' performance from rapper Booba.
What followed was a multitude of Parisian chances (2nd, 7th, 31st, 50th, 58th) and four posts (22nd, 50th, 58th, 90th) from Bradley Barcola and Désiré Doué, who were more energetic than in the last matches but still without being effective in front of goal (a post from Nuno Mendes).
Three goals in around ten minutes
Then, after the hour mark, PSG pushed OM back into crisis by scoring three goals: first an own goal from Medina, who headed a shot from Joao Neves (3-0, 64th), before the incoming Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, fully recovered from his sprained ankle, widened the gap with a superb volley (4-0, 66th) at level of land, served by Dembélé.
Less than ten minutes later, another substitute, Lee Kang-in, played through the Marseille defense to nail the show (5-0, 74th) just after coming into play.
For his first "classic", Parisian goalkeeper Matveï Safonov did not have much to do and was vigilant on the rare Marseille opportunities. And new recruit Dro Fernandez, from FC Barcelona, was able to quietly enjoy his first minutes in the colors of PSG.
Before Sunday evening, it had been a long time since the duels between the two rivals had been as closely fought as this season (OM's victory at the Vélodrome and PSG's narrow success during the disputed Champions Trophy), but this time Roberto De Zerbi's players were stunned.
Sunday evening, the gap between the two teams widened again in a match marked once again by insulting and discriminatory chants sung from the stands of the Parc des Princes, leading to the match being interrupted for a few seconds (70th).
With AFP
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