PSG and its foreign legion | OneFootball

Against OGC Nice in Ligue 1 Uber Eats Round 27, Paris Saint-Germain presented a 100% foreign starting XI - just the fourth time in club history - but they're not the only club to have done so. Take a deep dive...

Since 2003, ten clubs have fielded eleven players of foreign nationalities in Ligue 1 Uber Eats. The latest being Paris Saint-Germain against OGC Nice on Saturday (1-0), with a starting XI composed of nine different nationalities, without any Frenchmen (Brazilians and Argentinians X2, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Senegal and Costa Rica), due in particular to the suspension absence of Kylian Mbappé. And this for the fourth time in club history in Ligue 1 Uber Eats, after 22 September, 2019 (1-0 against Lyon), 31 August, 2014 (5-0 against Saint-Etienne) and 1 December, 2013 (4-0 against Lyon).

OGC NICE - PARIS SAINT-GERMAIN (1-0) / Highlights (OGCN - PSG) 2021/2022

PSG's previous all-foreign starting XIs in Ligue 1 Uber Eats: September 22, 2019: OL-PSG (0-1) Navas (COS) - Meunier (BEL), T. Silva (BRA), Diallo (SEN), Bernat (ESP) - Marquinhos (BRA), Gueye (SEN), Herrera (ESP) - Di Maria (ARG), Choupo-Moting (CAM), Neymar (BRA) 31 August 2014: PSG-ASSE (5-0) Sirigu (ITA) - van der Wiel (NED), Marquinhos (BRA), D. Luiz (BRA), Maxwell (BRA) - Verratti (ITA), T.Motta (ITA), Pastore (ARG) - L. Moura (BRA), Cavani (URU), Ibrahimovic (SWE)

December 1, 2013: PSG-OL (4-0) Sirigu (ITA) - van der Wiel (NED), Alex (BRA), T. Silva (BRA), Maxwell (BRA) - Verratti (ITA), T.Motta (ITA), Pastore (ARG) - L. Moura (BRA), Cavani (URU), Ibrahimovic (SWE) OM, Monaco and Reims too Three other clubs have done the same in the past: OM and AS Monaco three times and Stade de Reims twice. The last one was a few months ago, on 1 December during the victory at OL (1-2) with two Belgians (Faes and Foket), a Malian (Touré), a Serb (Rajkovic), a Tunisian (Abdelhamid), a Guadeloupean (Gravillon), an Algerian (Kebbal), an Ivorian (Konan), a Kosovar (Berisha), a Guinean (Cassama) and a Senegalese (Lopy). Prior to Reims, Monaco lined up three times with foreign starters between February 2016 and November 2017, against Bastia (2 February 2016, 2-0), Nice four days later (1-0), and Amiens (17 November 2017). Leonardo Jardim picked the same XI against the Corsicans and during the derby, with four Portuguese (R. Carvalho, Moutinho, Coentrão, B. Silva), three Brazilians (Wallace, Fabinho and Love), two Croatians (Subasic, Pasalic), an Italian (Raggi) and a Moroccan (Dirar).

In August 2003, Alain Perrin did the same with OM against AJ Auxerre (1-0): two Ivorians (Drogba and Méïté), two Senegalese (Beye and N'Diaye), a Croatian (Runje), a Belgian (van Buyten), a Swiss (Celestini), a Czech (Vachousek), a Russian (Sytchev), an Egyptian (Mido) and an Algerian (Hemdani). Omnipresent in this category, PSG also figures prominently among the teams that have fielded the most foreigners of the same nationality in Ligue 1 Uber Eats since 1996-97, with four appearances out of the 14 sides with five or more foreigners of the same nationality. While FC Metz hold the record with six Senegalese at kick-off on 15 August, 2007 against AS Monaco (2-0), with P. Diop, C. Gueye, D. Djiba, M. N'Diaye, P.Cissé and B. Gueye, the Parisians started with five Brazilians (Marquinhos, T. Silva, D. Luiz, Maxwell, L. Moura) four times between January 2015 and April 2016. On the other hand, FC Nantes were the last club to field five Brazilians at the same time, in March 2019 (Fabio, D. Carlos, Girotto, Boschilia and Lucas Lima).

The 100% French XIs Les Canaris, on the other hand, are also among the last to have had a 100% Frenchmen (November and December 2003: Landreau, Gillet, Delhommeau, Armand, Da Rocha, Berson, Savinaud, Toulalan, Ziani, Glombard). It would appear that this homeland influence is a thing of the past, as it hasn't been seen in Ligue 1 Uber Eats in the 18 years (February 2004), since a 100% French Nice side (Gregorini, Scotto, Pamarot, Cobos, Abardonado, Varrault, Bigné, Pitau, Echouafni, Laslandes and Meslin) were fielded by the  Frenchest of Germans Gernot Rohr. Even here, the capital club is historically present with 11 Frenchmen starting against AS Saint-Etienne on 13 January, 2001 (Létizi, Algérino, Rabesandratana, Distin, Paisley, Ducrocq, Déhu, Luccin, Cissé, Anelka and Robert) - with the deceptively French Luis Fernandez on the bench.

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