David Ginola (January 25, 1967, Gassin, France) was one of the most talented players in French football in the 90s along with Zinedine Zidane. Became PSG’s first big French star, knocking Real Madrid out of the UEFA Cup in 1993 in a memorable tie. On the eve of the double Champions League confrontation, the charismatic former PSG or Newcastle player attends Diario AS to analyze the main current issues of the Parisian team.
How do you see the PSG-Real Madrid tie? Do you think it is one of the most even of all the round of 16?
The party has an extraordinary poster. The matches between PSG and Real Madrid are always very interesting. For Madrid, it remains to be seen whether Benzema will play or not, it could be a key point, since he is the captain of the team and also a key player for the dressing room, so his ownership in Paris would be very important for them. PSG can beat all the teams in the world due to the great talent they have with players like Messi, Neymar, Mbappé, Di Maria, Verratti… And, obviously, Real Madrid is no longer that Los Galácticos team, but it is still Madrid and they are not having bad results. It’s going to be a great match and anything can happen.
What has changed since you arrived at PSG to now? The team used to also have quite a few stars, but perhaps the media pull was different.
In our time, when we played against Real Madrid in the European Cup and eliminated them, we had a very united team, and it was a surprise for them to meet such talented players and it was also surprising for the press to see that in Paris had such an effective team. Today it is different, firstly because football is different, but also because the world of football has changed, the players too… Is PSG capable of playing against a team from the 80s like we did? I think the key to the match is going to be the minutes they have played together, because you can line up all the talent in the world, but as soon as they don’t play together you can’t win. You will always find yourself facing a team that knows itself and knows what it should do and even with the best players in the world, such as PSG, you can lose. Pochettino’s role will be to unite the group and see that if they want to win titles it will only be if they play together. If they don’t, it will be very difficult.
You already faced Real Madrid in 1993, in the UEFA Cup, in a historic comeback. Was yours the first great PSG that existed?
Yes, we could say yes. I romantically remember the time, when we faced Real Madrid in the game that we won 4-1 and against us we had great players like Sanchís or Buyo and a team capable of doing extraordinary things. But even having that team in front of us, we showed that PSG could put on great performances. In the end, PSG has become a big team in Europe thanks to performances like that and thanks to great results.
How are you seeing Messi at PSG? Because he has not finished adapting. You, who played in Ligue 1, do you think that the physique makes the French League very hard?
I always say that after 13 years at Barça and being adapted to the system, you find yourself at 34 years old in another environment and it’s difficult. Even being one of the best on the pitch, physically it is difficult to adapt. Then, at Barça, the whole team played for him, he played for the team and knew everything, his teammates, the team, the club, the city… In Paris it’s different. The arrival of Messi, at a media level, is extraordinary for PSG, but to know if it will work sportingly… I don’t know. If I put myself in Messi’s shoes, I think that his arrival at PSG has been more to finish his career because the media impact has been gigantic, something that can wear him down. I think that sportingly it has been a great coup for PSG but we need to think about the future, which is Mbappé. If I were PSG I would focus on him and build a team around him.
David Ginola in a match with Paris Saint-Germain.
PA Images via Getty Images
What do you think of Mbappe? Do you think he can lead a project outside of Paris?
Kylian Mbappé has no barriers and can achieve whatever he wants. If he decides to stay at PSG, or go to Real Madrid or England or Barça, he has so much quality that he can make a difference at any time. When you have so much talent, the greatest quality you can acquire is the will and if you combine it with a great talent you can get anywhere. Mbappé has the skills to become the best player in the world, there is no doubt.
Which PSG did you like the most? The one from the 90s that had stars, not of that level, but competed against the best in Europe, or the current one.
It is very difficult to explain because if you look at the team of the 90s, we only had 3 foreigners, with Real Madrid it was the other way around, we could not play with more than three foreigners before the Bosman Law. For that alone it was different. It is the fundamental difference, PSG plays with many players from abroad, only Mbappé and Kimpembe are French, but there are Marquinhos, the goalkeepers, Di María, Verratti… There is no comparison. The big difference was this. Then within the group you can’t compare, everything has changed a lot in football. But I hate to compare and say which has been better, there are 30 years of difference and there are so many differences that the mentality has changed… everything. They are two different times. The big problem now is that PSG have invested a lot in the players, but since 2011 they have only reached one Champions League final.
I also wanted to ask you about how the reign of football in Paris has changed. You were one of the last talents that Racing Club de France brought out in the 1990s, which in its day was called Racing Matra due to a large investment from Matra. Was that comparable to what PSG is today?
I do not think so. During this time we barely won titles, but now PSG wins many trophies, between leagues, cups, super cups… Every year they win something. The only thing they lack is the Champions League. Frankly it is difficult to explain, when you see the squad they have the best in the world, but this does not mean that they are going to win. The difference is having the right people like coach, sports director or president who encourage the players to have a common project. In the 90s we all had a project, to be the largest in France. Later we achieved it with PSG, we won 2 Leagues, two League Cups… PSG became a great player in Europe. Racing tried to be a great, but failed. There was a great rivalry with PSG.
He has been considered one of the most talented players in French history. Was he left with the thorn of not being able to be in the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship?
Obviously, in 1999 I won the prize for the best player in France. And a year before it was the World Cup in my country. It was very difficult to understand. France won, there is nothing to say here. They are decisions of the selector. We can only congratulate them and applaud them, but it was a shame not to be there because it would have been one of the greatest things to have participated in the 1998 World Cup.
In the event that Benzema does not arrive, do you think that Real Madrid’s options are reduced enough?
If Benzema doesn’t play there are two problems. For Madrid because they will not have the striker capable of scoring goals, but also the psychological fact for PSG, since the defenders will not have the great scorer in front of them. If Benzema doesn’t play, the match won’t be the same and equally so for the spectators or for the journalists like you.