A page that turns and good intentions to write there. On the forecourt bordering the Virage Auteuil, from 6:30 p.m. this Saturday, the Parisian Ultras had started to meet with ants in their legs and in their voices. When the first songs are launched at the stroke of 7 p.m., the instructions given by the kapos are clear. For the start of this new season at the Parc des Princes, there is only one objective: to turn everything around.
At the end of last season, the day after the elimination of PSG in the Champions League at the end of the season at the Parc, against Metz, the Collectif Ultras Paris (CUP) went into silent mode to protest against the organizational excesses of a club in which he struggled to recognize himself. Since then, it has undergone a major transformation which has therefore resonated with the Ultras. On this day of the first match of the season, the message is clear: the club has turned a page, is embarking on a new dynamic, and its Ultras must be there to encourage it as they know how to do.
And even a song for… Mamadou Sakho
Under the heat that still encompasses Paris at the end of the afternoon, we feel in the ranks of the Ultras a relief, a happiness to find this atmosphere after five months of virtual silence. After a little vocal warm-up and sincere embraces at the bottom of the Bend, the members of the CUP quickly took over the Auteuil stand, almost three months to the day after the last match at the Parc des Princes. Inside, the stand was ready. The new banner of Collectif Ultras Paris, upright. At 8 p.m., while the other stands were still very sparse, the bend was already full and ready to give voice.
When the compositions are announced, the contrast with last season is striking. Applause for all Parisians, and even more for Presnel Kimpembe, who celebrated his 27th birthday this Saturday, Marco Verratti, Léo Messi and Neymar, booed last season at the height of the crisis, and of course Kylian Mbappé, holder for the first time this season in an official match.
When the two teams entered for the warm-up, and while the PSG players presented the Champions Trophy to their audience, another player was given the cheers of the Parisian public: Mamadou Sakho, back on the lawn of the Parc for the first time since his emotional farewell to the club in 2013. As a reminder, despite the pages that turn, the Park retains a certain memory.