We had to wait a little longer than we imagined, waiting for everyone’s schedule to agree. But this Sunday, at the end of the afternoon, Tel Aviv finally switched to Paris time. Unless it’s the other way around. What does it really matter since the city has finally switched to Champions Trophy mode, a few hours before the start of the meeting between PSG and Nantes. “From Friday evening to Saturday evening, it’s Shabbat, explains Jérémy, strolling on the ledge with friends. And Sunday in Israel is Monday in Paris, everyone works. That’s why you didn’t meet that many supporters. People like football in Tel Aviv, they will go to the stadium after work. »
Like Eva, a smiling thirty-year-old from Ashdod, a town about thirty kilometers away, “people arrive at the last minute. Sébastien, he made sure to anticipate the movement. The president of the PSG fan club in Israel thus conveyed the message to its 350 members. Despite the work and those who have chosen to plant themselves in front of the players’ hotel, they are still around fifty, at 6 p.m., to launch the procession towards the stadium singing to the glory of Paris. “Guys, we have to make noise for Paris,” he thunders.
Messi acclaimed, Hakimi still whistled
The atmosphere is festive. The day before, a handful of them had the chance to meet Christophe Galtier to give him a collector’s skateboard featuring the legends of PSG. “We told him that he had the weight of the club in his hands, laughs Sébastien. He was really cool. Everyone dreamed of another Marseille, but the guy is super clean. We needed a guy like that. »
And whoever created the fan club in 2012 is probably not the only one to think so. Sunday, they are 500 at his side to animate the PSG kop. Plus 100 others, to have also passed through him, for side seats. Benjamin is not one of them. But he is just as happy to be able to combine business with pleasure. “As my brother-in-law lives here, I asked him to take places so that we could attend the first match of the season and visit the family”, says this inhabitant of the 19th century. He didn’t have to break the bank. “60 euros, in the bend, it’s affordable for a Champions Trophy. »
Much more than the 350 displayed on the exchanges on the eve of the match. Because when the players enter the pitch during warm-up, there is no doubt that the passion for Messi, Neymar and the others is present in Tel Aviv. At the applause meter, the Argentinian makes the temperature rise with a snap of his fingers. In the stands, the telephones are agitated, the smiles freeze on the faces. Tel Aviv has regained its effervescence. His critical sense, too. Like last year, Achraf Hakimi, who is accused of his support for Palestine, is jeered at each of his touches of the ball. The remains of a support displayed in Palestine.