Page 22 - Aruba Today

A22
SPORTSTuesday 26 January 2016
Extra Time:
PSG’s dominance removes drama from French league
JEROME PUGMIRE
AP Sports Writer
PARIS (AP) — Fuelled by
funding from Qatar, Paris
Saint-Germain’s crushing
dominance this season has
removed all suspense from
the French league with 16
matches remaining.
Unless you are a PSG fan,
the excitement factor has
evaporated. PSG already
leads closest rival Monaco
by a colossal 21 points and
has only setting domestic
records to worry about.
At the current rate, PSG
will finish on 104 points —
smashing its own record by
15 — while coach Laurent
Blanc’s side is on course to
score around 100 league
goals and concede the
least ever in a season.
A second straight domes-
tic treble is odds-on, with
PSG playing in the League
Cup semifinals on Tuesday,
and if PSG avoids defeat
at Saint-Etienne on Sunday
it will equal the longest un-
beaten league run of 32
games, set by Nantes 21
years ago.
PSG’s Qatari owners, Qa-
tar Sports Investments,
have pumped hundreds of
millions of dollars into the
club since taking over in
June 2011 in a bid to join
Europe’s elite.
The club is worth around
€480 million in terms of rev-
enue, making it the fourth
richest behind Manchester
United, Barcelona and No.
1 Real Madrid, according
to Deloitte’s rankings.
It’s all too easy, meaning
that Blanc’s side will ulti-
mately be judged on how
well it does in the Cham-
pions League — having
lost in the quarterfinals for
the past three seasons —
rather by how many points
it wins its fourth straight title
by. Therefore, it is under-
standable that Blanc has
spent the past two weeks
talking about the impor-
tance of being ready to
face Chelsea in the last 16
— even though the first leg
is not until Feb. 16.
But in doing so he may as
well grab a megaphone
and tell everyone how
weak the domestic com-
petition is.
Saturday’s 5-1 hammer-
ing of Angers extended
an unbeaten league run
dating back to March 15,
matched a club record
for 11 straight wins and im- nick Ferreira Carrasco to
proved PSG’s whopping
goal difference to + 46. At
the ripe age of 34, Zlatan
Ibrahimovic is on course for ing star Anthony Martial to
his best ever tally — he has Manchester United — as
17 league goals so far, de-
spite missing five games —
PSG’s Lucas, center, celebrates with Zlatan Ibrahimovic, right, and Blaise Matuidi, after scoring
during the League One soccer match between Paris Saint Germain and Angers, at the Parc des
Prince stadium in Paris, Saturday, Jan. 23, 2016.
while winger Angel di Ma-
ria has already beaten his
league scoring record as
well as setting up the most
goals in Ligue 1.
PSG’s only defeat any-
where was 1-0 away to
Real Madrid in the Cham-
pions League on Nov. 3.
In boxing terms, PSG’s
dominance would be the
equivalent of a heavy-
weight champion knock-
ing out petrified middle-
weights within a minute of
the opening round.
Seven-time French cham-
pion Lyon and nine-time
champ Marseille did chal-
lenge last season, but both
languish 30 points behind.
Monaco threatened to up-
stage PSG after a massive
cash outlay under Russian
billionaire owner Dmitry Ry- for next season’s Cham-
bolovlev three years ago,
but then did everything to
undermine that bid.
In the past two seasons,
Monaco has sold Colom-
bia’s World Cup star James
Rodriguez to Real Madrid,
France midfielder Geof-
frey Kondogbia to Inter
Milan, speedy winger Yan-
Atletico Madrid, lynchpin
defender Aymen Abden-
nour to Valencia, and ris-
well as letting once-feared
striker Radamel Falcao join
United on loan.
For a club hoping to chal-
lenge PSG, that is a funny
way of showing it.
Instead, Monaco has now
become purely a profit-
making club — and a very
good one — using its vast
scouting network to re-
cruit exceptionally talent-
ed young players and sell
them for a profit.
Even if Monaco does finish
second, it would be hard to
bet against the club selling
more of its promising assets.
Monaco has achieved
one thing PSG never has,
though — reaching the
Champions League final, in
2004 — and Marseille won
it in 1993.
But Marseille only has an
outside shot of qualifying
pions League and, hav-
ing spent several seasons
clearing debts, it has scant
funds available.
Owner Margarita Louis-
Fowler eyes major
to merit inclusion
in golf’s new elite
Dreyfus is increasingly keen STEVE DOUGLAS
to sell — the asking price is AP Sports Writer
around € 85-100 million eu- ABU DHABI, United Arab
ros — with potential buyers Emirates (AP) — Golf’s
from Kazakhstan, Kuwait new “Big Three” has
and China showing an in- been around for only a
terest, according to a re- few months, and already
port Sunday on football there’s talk of the exclusive
show Telefoot. group being expanded.
However, any buyer would Rickie Fowler is back in
have to invest considerably the conversation after his
more to attract the likes of fourth worldwide victory in
Di Maria and Edinson Ca- the last nine months, over
a stellar field at the Abu
Dhabi HSBC Champion-
ship.
On Monday, the American
found himself at a career-
(AP Photo/Thibault Camus) high No. 4 in the rankings,
with only Jordan Spieth, Ja-
vani — PSG’s €64-million son Day and Rory McIlroy
above him.
striker who now sits on the But to merit inclusion in
the sport’s golfing elite,
bench. Fowler knows he needs to
add a major to his increas-
Buying Marseille comes ingly impressive resume.
He gets his first chance at
with another snag: the the Masters in April.
“I’d like to jump in and
Stade Velodrome is owned be a part of that crew,”
said Fowler, sitting beside
by the city and mayor the huge Falcon Trophy
awarded to the Abu Dhabi
Jean-Claude Gaudin does champion.
“The goal right now with
not want to sell it. where my game’s at — it’s
the best it’s been this early
“As long as I’m mayor of in the season in my career
— I’m working on getting
Marseille, it won’t change,” ready for Augusta.
“I’d like to have my shot at
he told Telefoot. getting the green jacket
there.”
The example of Lens should Fowler had never previous-
ly won a tournament in the
be a warning sign to clubs first four months of a year.
He’s been a slow starter to
hoping for a miracle inves- seasons — he tied for 66th
in Abu Dhabi in 2015, 17
tor, too. shots behind unheralded
French winner Gary Stal —
Having secured consider- making the Masters even
tougher to win.
able backing from major But this is a different Fowler,
who acknowledges that
shareholder Hafiz Mam- his work on the range with
celebrated coach Butch
madov of Azerbaijan, all Harmon is starting to pay
off.
seemed promising when His playoff win at The Play-
ers Championship last
the northern club won pro- May started his winning
run that has also taken
motion back to the first divi- in the Scottish Open and
the Deutsche Bank, and
sion two seasons ago. made him believe more in
himself.q
That was until the league’s
financial watchdog
(DNCG) spotted a 10-mil-
lion euro hole in the club’s
proposed budget for 2014-
15. q