A week after their hard-fought win away at Strasbourg (1–2), Paris Saint-Germain returned to Ligue 1 action for Matchday 21 and another major showdown: Le Classique against Marseille. For Les Parisiens, the objective was clear: beat their rivals and reclaim top spot in the league. In an electric Parc des Princes, Luis Enrique’s men quickly took control and struck first through Ousmane Dembélé, who opened the scoring with a side-footed finish after a perfectly weighted assist from Nuno Mendes (1–0, 12')!
Shaken, Marseille tried to respond immediately, but Matvey Safonov made a crucial save with his thigh from close range to deny Amine Gouiri (15'). The visitors struggled to keep possession in Paris’ half, unlike hosts, who remained the more dangerous side, illustrated by Désiré Doué forcing a save from Jeffrey de Lange (32'). A few minutes later, the Marseille goalkeeper was helpless, beaten at his near post by a devastating strike from Ousmane Dembélé, who had effortlessly dribbled past Leonardo Balerdi and Facundo Medina (2–0, 37')!
While a Marseille comeback might have been expected after the break, the opposite happened: the club from the capital continued to assert its dominance. João Neves once again tested Jeffrey de Lange, just moments before Désiré Doué struck the Olympian goalkeeper’s post (50'). Less than ten minutes later, following a timid headed attempt from Igor Paixão (55'), Bradley Barcola broke into the Marseille box and hit the post from a tight angle (59'). In search of a third goal, Les Parisiens saw their luck momentarily desert them.
Help came in the form of Facundo Medina, who headed the ball into his own net (3–0, 64'), allowing the Rouge et Bleu to surge toward what now seemed an inevitable victory. Marseille sank to one knee, then another just two minutes later, when Khvicha Kvaratskhelia extended the lead with a superb angled volley (4–0, 66')! And the Marseillais’ nightmare wasn’t over: Lee Kang-In beat Facundo Medina before firing a left-footed shot to cap off Paris’ extraordinary performance (5–0, 74').
On the pitch of a Parc des Princes singing in unison for its heroes, Paris Saint-Germain produced a legendary Classique performance against their rivals, reclaiming the top spot in Ligue 1 in the process. One month after pulling off the impossible by overturning Marseille in a crazy Trophée des Champions final, the Rouge et Bleu shone once again against the Phocaeans who endured yet another nightmare evening in the capital.
