Julien Moreau (comments collected by Cyrille de La Morinerie) // Photo credits: Franck Fife/AFP
The meeting between Newcastle and Paris Saint-Germain which will take place this Wednesday, October 4, at St James’ Park, will have a special flavor for David Ginola. The man with 17 caps for the French team played for the Parisian club between 1992 and 1995, but also for the Magpies between 1995 and 1997.
An unprecedented confrontation. For the first time in the history of the competition, PSG and Newcastle will face each other this Wednesday, October 4, on the second day of the Champions League. This meeting will have a special flavor for David Ginola. “It’s a special match because I left Paris in 1995 to go to Newcastle. It was also special to see the Paris team doing their warm-up on the eve of the match at St James’ Park. It’s the first time that they will play a match in this stadium. It has a particular flavor, but it remains a football match with all that that implies. What is certain is that there will be an atmosphere of sick at St James’ Park. It’s a constant in the north-east of England”, reported the fifty-year-old on Europe 1.
A special fervor
The 1994 French champion did not want to say too much to the Parisian players about the electric atmosphere at Saint James’ Park. “I think it’s good to discover things for yourself. I don’t think that at this level of competition, when you’re a top player, it has a particular influence. I think that the players prefer to play in atmospheres like that will be the case this evening rather than in an empty stadium like during the Covid-19 era,” said the former French international.
“In this stadium, there is a particular passion and fervor. There is not much atmosphere like that in England. Newcastle is a working-class city which is not necessarily very rich. Football has a special place . It’s the perfect outlet for all these people who live in the north-east of England. Obviously, it’s something that is found at the Stadium, people are supporters of the club from father to son and that is feels outside the enclosure”, added David Ginola at the microphone of Europe 1.
Despite the special link for the two clubs, the man with 17 caps for the French team has a preference. “I remain French in my heart. PSG is the club that got me started at the highest level. I remain a supporter of PSG. It remains special, I arrived yesterday and I met lots of people. They asked me who I was for. I gave a political response saying that I wanted a great football match. But obviously, I would like Paris to win”, concluded the best player of the Premier League in 1999.