Thanks to this success on Saturday, the RC Strasbourg is third ex AEQUO of Ligue 1, ahead of goals by Nice.
France Télévisions – Sport writing
Published the 03/05/2025 19:00 Reading time: 2min
Strasbourg more than ever on the European time. Three days before the end of the championship, the Racing Club of Strasbourg Alsace took a big step towards a European qualification, by beating Paris Saint-Germain, on Saturday May 3, at the Stade de la Meinau (2-1). With a very reworked starting eleven, PSG had its head at its semi-final return from the Champions League on Wednesday, against Arsenal.
The Champions League, precisely, Strasbourg can legitimately claim it thanks to this success. Fourth Provisional Ligue 1, tied with Nice (3rd), the Alsatians can dream of a qualification for the most prestigious of European competitions, which the RCSA only disputed once: in 1979-1980. Even if Lille, Lyon and Monaco can go back to the end of the weekend.
Without devaluing the Strasbourg performance, it should be remembered that PSG approached this meeting with the mind elsewhere. Not being in search of a record of historical invincibility in Ligue 1, since their defeat against Nice, the Parisians approached this trip to the Meinau with a very revamped eleven. In particular, there were young Senny Mayulu, Ibrahim Mbaye and Axel Tape, but also Warren Zaïre-Emery in an unusual right role.
However, he is a very experienced man who has gone to the fault: Lucas Hernandez. At a Strasbourg corner, the 2018 world champion could not avoid the ball. Result: a goal against his camp which made the Meinau exult (1-0, 20th). Just before the break, the RCSA made the break on a jewel of Félix Lemarechal, author of a rolled shot in the skylight of Matvey Safonov (2-0, 45+3rd).
As soon as the locker room returns, we thought that PSG was finally going to change the gear when Bradley Barcola reduced the gap after forty-five seconds, after a superb solitary movement (2-1, 46th). But this burst of pride was not followed by effects for spectators of their own meeting. Strasbourg was able to quietly manage his end of the meeting, and thus to offer himself a first victory at home against PSG since December 2, 2017.
