Under the floodlights at the Vélodrome on Sunday night, Bruno Genesio will take charge of Marseille in Le Classique for the first time. The 60-year-old meets Paris Saint-Germain at 20:45 in Ligue 1’s fifth round carrying an unusually strong record against the champions of the Qatari era: six league victories, achieved with Lyon and Rennes.
A rare record against Paris
Genesio has faced PSG 20 times across his coaching career, including 17 Ligue 1 fixtures. His knockout meetings brought three defeats while he was Lyon coach in 2016: a 2-1 League Cup quarter-final loss, a 3-0 Coupe de France last-16 defeat, and a 4-1 reverse in the Trophée des Champions.
League football has offered a different picture. Against PSG since the club’s 2011 takeover, Genesio has won six, drawn two and lost nine of his 17 top-flight meetings. Those six wins make him the most successful Ligue 1 coach against PSG during that period.
- Three victories came with Lyon, all by a 2-1 scoreline.
- Three more arrived with Rennes, including a 2-0 win at the Parc des Princes.
- His teams have repeatedly ended long PSG unbeaten runs, both home and away.
Lyon’s three statements
February 2016: Lyon halt Blanc’s unbeaten march
Genesio’s first major success against PSG came on 28 February 2016, when Lyon beat Laurent Blanc’s side 2-1 despite being without Clément Grenier, Samuel Umtiti, Nabil Fekir, Mathieu Valbuena and Corentin Tolisso.
Lyon had already lost three times to PSG that season, including a 5-1 league defeat in Paris under Genesio’s predecessor Hubert Fournier. But at home they dismantled a PSG side unbeaten through 36 league matches, including each of the first 27 rounds of the 2015-16 campaign.
Genesio deployed an assertive 4-3-3, with Sergi Darder, Maxime Gonalons and Jordan Ferri controlling midfield. Maxwel Cornet opened the scoring in the 13th minute after Alexandre Lacazette’s pass, before Darder produced a fine finish from Rafael’s delivery in first-half stoppage time. Lucas Moura pulled one back in the 51st minute, but PSG never truly seized control. Paris would still win the title by a wide margin.
January 2018: Depay’s last-word thunderbolt
Lyon again prevailed 2-1 on 21 January 2018 against a PSG led by Unai Emery. The result lifted OL back into second place after 22 rounds, although they would eventually finish third while PSG claimed the championship.
PSG travelled without Neymar, who had suffered a thigh problem after scoring four times and supplying two assists against Dijon four days earlier. Kylian Mbappé also went off in the 30th minute following a heavy collision with Anthony Lopes, while Dani Alves was dismissed in the 57th for a second booking after protesting.
- Nabil Fekir struck a left-footed free-kick after only two minutes.
- Layvin Kurzawa levelled in first-half added time.
- Genesio introduced Memphis Depay in the 69th minute.
- In the 95th minute, Depay punished a misplaced Kurzawa ball with a fierce right-footed effort into the top corner.
February 2019: another unbeaten PSG side fall
On 3 February 2019, Thomas Tuchel’s PSG arrived at the Groupama Stadium unbeaten in 20 league matches, with 18 wins and two draws. Neymar was again absent, this time after another metatarsal fracture.
Angel Di Maria gave PSG an early lead from Julian Draxler’s assist, but Lyon’s intensity in a 4-2-3-1 overwhelmed Tuchel’s 4-4-2. Moussa Dembélé headed in Leo Dubois’ cross in the 33rd minute after uncertainty from goalkeeper Alphonse Areola.
Fekir settled the contest four minutes after the break, converting a left-footed penalty won by Dembélé after Thiago Silva’s foul. PSG went on to be champions, while Lyon retained third place.
Rennes and the art of stopping Paris
October 2021: the star quartet silenced
Genesio’s Rennes ended PSG’s perfect start to the 2021-22 league season on 3 October 2021. Mauricio Pochettino’s visitors had won all eight of their opening fixtures and fielded Angel Di Maria, Lionel Messi, Neymar and Mbappé.
Rennes had won only twice and were sitting in mid-table, yet their disciplined 4-4-2 deservedly delivered a 2-0 victory at Roazhon Park. Gaëtan Laborde turned in Kamaldeen Sulemana’s cross just before half-time, then Flavien Tait struck from Laborde’s cut-back immediately after the restart.
That result launched a strong recovery for Rennes, who finished fourth. PSG, meanwhile, regained the title they had lost to Lille the previous season.
January 2023: Rennes overpower Galtier’s PSG
Rennes defeated Christophe Galtier’s PSG 1-0 on 15 January 2023. Di Maria had left for Juventus the previous summer, while Messi, Neymar and Mbappé — introduced in the 56th minute — were still feeling the demands of the World Cup in Qatar.
Genesio set Rennes up in a compact 5-4-1 without possession, switching into a 3-4-3 with Adrien Truffert and captain Hamari Traoré providing the width. Traoré scored in the 65th minute, meeting a cut-back from Truffert with a precise left-footed finish.
- Rennes registered six shots on target.
- PSG managed only one effort on target.
- The defeat was Paris’s second league loss of the season.
March 2023: victory in Paris at last
Two months later, on 19 March 2023, Genesio claimed his sixth and most recent Ligue 1 win over PSG — and his only one at the Parc des Princes. Rennes won 2-0, ending Paris’s 35-match domestic unbeaten sequence at home, which had stretched for almost two years.
PSG’s preceding league defeat in Paris had come on 3 April 2021, a 1-0 loss to Lille coached by Galtier, who would take PSG to the 2023 title.
On this occasion, Galtier’s 3-4-1-2 produced two expected goals but no finishes. Rennes struck either side of the interval: Karl Toko-Ekambi ran onto Benjamin Bourigeaud’s through ball and finished across goal in the 45th minute, before Arnaud Kalimuendo made it 2-0 three minutes after half-time from Lesley Ugochukwu’s low cross.
Kalimuendo had joined Rennes from PSG the previous summer in a deal worth €25 million including bonuses. Now Genesio brings that accumulated experience, and a record built on unsettling Paris, into Marseille’s first Classique of his tenure.
