Marseille face up to gulf separating them from PSG in France

PARIS: Marseille travel to Paris Saint-Germain this weekend for French football´s biggest fixture, which threatens to remind them of the enormous gulf now separating the two great rivals.

PSG have lorded over all of France for more than a decade, transformed since the Qatari takeover of the capital club in 2011. But the gap between them and the rest has become particularly pronounced in recent months as Luis Enrique´s PSG prove irresistible at home and impress in Europe too.

This week´s Champions League last 16 victory over Liverpool may only have been achieved on penalties, but PSG showed remarkable mental strength to win the kind of tie they would surely have lost in previous seasons.

They are now preparing for a quarter-final tie next month against Aston Villa, as they cruise towards another Ligue 1 title. The Parisians are unbeaten domestically since last May and hold an enormous 16-point lead over second-placed Marseille at the top of the table.

Win this weekend and PSG will extend that lead to 19 points, opening up the possibility that they could be crowned champions before March is out. Marseille, who lost 3-0 at home to PSG in October, may never seriously have entertained the possibility of winning the title this season, as they focus on finishing as the best of the rest and returning to the Champions League.

Winners of the Champions League in 1993, Marseille are not in Europe at all in this campaign. They have been excellent for much of the season under Roberto De Zerbi, helped by the goals of Mason Greenwood and the influence in midfield of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Adrien Rabiot.

If anyone can compete with PSG over the long term, it should be them -- Marseille´s revenue last season was 287 million euros, according to analysts Deloitte, the highest in France behind PSG´s enormous 806 million euros.

But as a club they have too often been wrought with instability, and De Zerbi´s task has not been helped in recent weeks by the focus on comments made by club president Pablo Longoria.