PSG host Lyon tonight at Parc des Princes for a mouth-watering showdown between the league leaders and the most in-form Ligue 1 team. Les Gones have won their last four games in all competitions, including a thrilling 3-2 home win against Bundesliga’s Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League. Should they inflict Parisians their first Ligue 1 loss, Lyon would cut the gap to the leaders to only six points. It would also be an intriguing new plot twist in the rift between PSG president Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Olympique Lyonnais John Textor.
As we say in France, Al-Khelaifi and Textor have no plans to spend their holidays together as the two executives don’t see eye to eye on many matters, such as PSG’s quest for Lyon’s Rayan Cherki and most of all the league’s domestic TV rights bidding process, which arguably proved catastrophic for Ligue 1 clubs. Last month, the Eagle Football chief already lamented the fact Lyon had lots of enemies, including “a big club in Qatar“.
The Team reported this Sunday that Textor and Al-Khelaifi exchanged icy text messages over the summer, showing an abrupt deterioration of their once-cordial relationship. On July 12, Textor reportedly asked his Qatari counterpart to speak to him regarding the TV rights, mentioning he is kept in the loop through Lyon CEO Laurent Prud’homme. Al-Khelaifi reportedly replied to Textor: “You should know your guy knows nothing about TV rights, have a good day.“
Textor does not let this slide, lamenting Al-Khelaifi’s power and influence over the league. “You didn’t call me to ask for my opinion but rather to tell me what I should think.” After a bout of corrosive texting, Al-Khelaifi tells Textor he has no intention to talk to him or even see him again. “Learn how to run a club and media, this is the last time I let you talk to me”, the PSG president reportedly said to Textor. The American businessman replied he was comfortable with this, before going personal with Al-Khelaifi: “You always say that you save everyone, which is just megalomaniacal behavior.”
Textor’s comment appears to have struck a chord with Al-Khelaifi, who ended the exchange with the following message: “You don’t understand anything about football and I’m wasting my time talking to you. You’ll lose wherever you go.”
GFFN | Bastien Cheval
