Before OM-PSG – is the French “Classique” more uneven than elsewhere?

Marseille vs PSG 

©IMAGO

It’s been a while since Marseille beat Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1. If Roberto De Zerbi’s side can find a way to claim all three points in front of their passionate home support this evening, it will be the first time in 1,836 days since they last bested the Parisian giants. Although the fixture between French football’s two biggest clubs is often referred to as “Le Classique”, the capital side often make short work of their domestic rivals. So is this an anomaly in Europe or are some of the continent’s top billings often as one-sided as the biggest game in France? Let’s take a look.

PSG win almost half the time

Firstly, “Le Classique” may not be as one-sided as one might think. In total, Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille have faced each other 109 times in their history, across all competitions combined. Les Rouge et Bleu have won 53 times, or nearly 49% of the time, compared to 35 wins for Les Phocéens (around 32%) and 21 draws (19%). When we then compare the French classic with its equivalents across the continent, we can quickly see whether this is perfectly normal or an outlier in Europe’s top leagues.

There are five other notable derbies in Europe: Real Madrid-Barcelona in Spain, Bayern Munich-Borussia Dortmund in Germany, Porto-Benfica in Portugal, Ajax-Feyenoord in the Netherlands and Anderlecht-Bruges in Belgium, although there is also a French-speaking version (Anderlecht-Standard). We can also add Manchester United-Liverpool in England and Juventus-Inter in Italy (Derby d’Italia), although these are more like derbies, as the two teams are more or less neighbours. Or Celtic-Rangers in Scotland (the Old Firm) and Fenerbahce-Galatasaray in Turkey (Istanbul Derby), which pit two clubs from the same city against each other.

So how does “Le Classique” compare to the history of these fixtures? Well, apparently the French fiture is well balanced, but it is far from being the only one. This is also the case for “Der Klassiker” (50% wins for Bayern and 26% wins for Dortmund), the Dutch Klassieker (49% for Ajax and 26% for Feyenoord), the Portuguese Clássico (48% for Porto and 29% for Benfica), the Derby d’Italia (46% for Juventus/ and 29% for Inter) and the Old Firm (47% Celtic and 36% for Rangers). Others, however, are more evenly matched, particularly the Spanish Clásico, with 106 wins for Real Madrid and 104 for Barcelona (in 261 matches). The same is true of the Topper (66 wins for Bruges and 64 wins for Anderlecht) and the Istanbul Derby (60 for Fenerbahce and 56 for Galatasaray). But the gap is far greater between Manchester United (80) and Liverpool (67).