Le Classique returns for its 103rd instalment on Sunday, but what else is there to know about the clash between Paris Saint-Germain and Olympique de Marseille?
PSG vs. Marseille represents North against South, nouveau riche vs. established power, and many things in between. Paris lead the Ligue 1 Uber Eats table this season, but a Marseille win this weekend would draw them level on 26 points.
With everything to play for, Ligue1.com take a closer look at one of the crown jewels of French football…
1) Biggest teams?
AS Saint-Étienne may have matched PSG's record of 10 French top-flight titles, the last of them coming back in1981, but Marseille are only one behind and have been runners-up more than any other club (12 times, to Paris's nine).
Paris and Marseille are also the only two French teams to have won major European trophies: PSG lifting the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1996 and Marseille the inaugural Champions League three years earlier.
Marseille have the biggest stadium in the land with their 67,394 Orange Vélodrome, but PSG also do a good job of filling out their 48,583 Parc des Princes every week.
2) Not just about the football…
Societal influences cut across this French derby.
Marseille were founded as a rugby club back in 1892 by René Dufaure de Montmirail, the son of a French military officer, and it was only 10 years later that they adopted football - the sport of the working classes - as their primary sport.
PSG were formed as part of a breakaway from Paris FC some 78 years later when 20,000 fans helped crowdfund a new club in the capital - the first time in French history supporters had helped found a professional football club.
It is somewhat ironic then, that the teams are seen to represent the opposite: PSG the team of the political and financial capital in the north, and Marseille the people's club for those in the provincial south.
3) Golden era
For the decade between 1989 and 1998, PSG and Marseille won the two aforementioned European titles as well as five Ligue 1 Uber Eats championships, four Coupes de France and two Coupes de la Ligue.
The Marseille team of that era boasted the likes of Didier Deschamps, Marcel Desailly, Rudi Voller and Alen Boksic, while PSG boasted Rai, George Weah, David Ginola, Youri Djorkaeff and more. Both eras are considered some of the best teams in French football history.
4) Notable games
PSG and Marseille played their first Classique on 12 December 1971, little more than a year after les Parisiens were founded. OM ran out 4-2 winners on their way to that season's league title, with Josip Skoblar - scorer of 100 goals in his first 100 Marseille appearances - getting two of their goals.
Both teams have won this fixture by a four-goal margin at best. PSG beat Marseille 5-1 in January 1978 and again in February 2017, when Edinson Cavani and Marquinhos were among five difference scorers. Marseille's biggest win was their 4-0 triumph back in 1984.
The rivalry solidified with the "Butchery of 1992" in which there were more than 50 fouls as Marseille won 1-0 at the Parc, thanks to Boksic's goal. This game is widely regarded as the birth of the rivalry. PSG took the honours when they met in the 2006 Coupe de France final, Vikash Dhorasoo scoring a wondergoal for the capital club who were, at that time, underdogs.
Watch: Zlatan scored a Kung Fu goal against Marseille in 2012/13
5) Key players
Former Marseille goalkeeper Steve Mandanda has featured in the most Classiques with 30 appearances. Now at Stade Rennais FC, he could see PSG midfielder Marco Verrati draw level with him on Sunday. Verrati, alongside Neymar, has the most red cards in the fixture with six apiece.
No player has scored more goals in the fixture than Zlatan Ibrahimovic's 11. Kylian Mbappé is four goals away from drawing level with the big Swede, although no player has ever scored a hat-trick in le Classique, so that might not happen this weekend.
Despite the depth and breadth of this French footballing rivalry, 49 players have turned out for both sides senior teams, with Weah, Claude Makélélé, Gabriel Heinze and Lassana Diarra among their number.
Peter Luccin represents the biggest transfer directly between the clubs. The defensive midfielder swapped OM for PSG in a €13.5 million deal in 2000, the same summer Stéphane Dalmat also moved for the second-highest €10.75m.
