Approximately 50 members from Paris Saint-Germain's various Supporters' Clubs – be they from Vancouver, Geneva, New York City, Bilbao, Montreal, Madrid or, of course, Lisbon – met up at the Paris Saint-Germain Academy pitch in the Portuguese capital this morning for a five-a-side tournament that also served as a warm-up for tonight's big game.
They were in for quite the surprise once they got there, though, as they were joined by former Rouge et Bleu striker Pauleta, who scored 109 goals in 211 competitive appearances for the capital club between 2003 and 2008, as well as helping his team to two Coupes de France (in 2004 and 2006) and one Coupe de la Ligue (in 2008). The Paris Saint-Germain legend, who also bagged 47 goals in 88 caps for Portugal, was a spectator for the tournament's final after posing for photos, signing autographs and chatting with this group of die-hard fans.
A few hours later, the Supporters' Clubs representatives found themselves in Lisbon's city centre in order to get their hands on their precious tickets for this evening's match. Then, later this afternoon, they will be accompanied by the Collectif Ultras Paris and Lisbon's significant French-speaking community for the now traditional Fan Walk towards the away section of the Estádio José Alvalade, where each and every one of these 2,500 fans will come together to form Les Parisiens' 12th man.
Meanwhile, Pauleta – a.k.a. the Eagle of the Azores – will be the guest on our pre-match show from SCP's home ground, which you'll be able to follow live on PSG TV from 19:45 CET tonight.