The Zendens have been in the news recently. Just after Mrs Zenden, also known as the model Clio Pajczer, told So Foot magazine of her embarrassment that her parents owned a Renault with the same name (and yes, that was the interview's highlight), husband Bolo was revealed as Marseille's highest-paid player, earning a monthly €263,500 (£243,000). Just as well for the Dutchman, then, that he was man of the match in Marseille's 3-1 win at Paris Saint-Germain, a result that opens up the title race even more following Lyon's shock 2-0 capitulation at home to Auxerre.
Zenden was a controversial choice to start the game ahead of Mamadou Niang and Hatem Ben Arfa - L'OM's next two highest earners on £203,000 and £185,000 respectively - but he scored the first goal, was then brought down in an incident that earned Zoumana Camara a red card and he took the resulting free-kick from which Bakary Koné scored to put L'OM 2-1 up. "The red card and the goal that followed were the turning points," said the PSG coach Paul Le Guen, while Eric Gerets added: "I can just imagine the criticism I would have got for picking Zenden if we had lost."
In recent years, the rivalry between the two clubs has been dominated by matters off the pitch: PSG fans smashed Marseille's team bus windscreen in November 2004, while two years later PSG coach Laurent Fournier suggested their dressing-room had been contaminated; later that season, L'OM responded to a fans' ban by taking a reserve team to Paris and getting a 0-0 draw. And all because, according to the book OM-PSG, PSG-OM, les meilleurs ennemis, ex-Marseille president Bernard Tapie had created a rivalry because he wanted Marseille to have domestic rivals to keep the 1993 European Cup winners on their toes.
The build-up was more about the players' salaries. PSG's wage list was also leaked, with Claude Makélélé (£258,000 per month) and Ludovic Giuly (£240,000) the top earners, while other notables were flop Mateja Kezman third with £231,000 and top-scorer Guillaume Hoarau down in 15th, bringing in a monthly £74,000. "We are the ultimate losers as when we asked about Hoarau, his advisers asked us to pay twice as much," said Marseille's president Pape Diouf, who told Fabulous Sport that among his previous jobs, which included delivery boy, street cleanerand postman, he was also an underwear model.
Zenden admitted that his former side Liverpool's 4-1 win over Manchester United had inspired Marseille. "We watched the Liverpool game and said, 'That's what we've got to do against them,'" he said. "There was intelligence and character in our play and that was good to see," said Gerets, who claimed to have seen 3,000 policemen outside the L'OM hotel the night before the game. "I didn't realise how big this game was until I saw that."
Mention should also go to Englishman Tyrone Mears, standing in for Laurent Bonnart at right-back, who in his first league start kept Jérôme Rothen quiet. "We messed up the match and have taken a blow to the back of our heads, but we'll pick ourselves up," said Le Guen, who didn't change the team following Camara's 53rd-minute dismissal "because I didn't want to".
Marseille and PSG are now one point behind Lyon after the leaders lost at home to Auxerre, a team that a few weeks ago were looking like relegation candidates. Lyon have now lost four in a row: the last time that happened was 18 years ago, when a certain Raymond Domenech was in charge. "I was very surprised that they played the same team which lost [5-2] to Barcelona," said winning coach Jean Fernandez, "I guess Claude Puel was looking for a reaction." He didn't get one, and the result could have been worse had Hugo Lloris, lucky to stay on the pitch after bringing down Kévin Lejeune late on, not stopped Cédric Hengbart's subsequent spot-kick.
These are worrying times for the champions who, wrote France Football, "were not only beaten in Barcelona, they were crushed, humiliated and then spat out again". The club sacked their double-winning coach last summer and might end this season empty-handed. They have made mistakes, such as losing Fred in January without bringing in a replacement, while the signing of Frédéric Piquionne, bought at Puel's request, seems bizarre as he has started only six games. "Right now, we're short of top-quality centre forwards," admitted former hero Sonny Anderson, now working for Lyon as a strikers' coach. "If Karim Benzema gets injured, we're in real trouble."
The only good news for Lyon this week was Benzema's promise to stay at the club next season, though with question marks over Puel's decisions and the home crowd booing the team off the Gerland pitch, Benzema's future is, for once, not Lyon's biggest concern. "I know the papers will say Lyon are in crisis now but we're not," said Jean-Alain Boumsong, who went off injured at half-time. Benzema was not so sure. "We are in some danger," he admitted.
Elsewhere, improving Sochaux moved out of the relegation zone with a 2-1 win over Nancy, whose coach Pablo Correa had his resignation refused after the match, which was a fifth loss in seven. Bordeaux are three points behind Lyon after beating Nice 2-1, Caen lost 1-0 to Lille while Monaco's Igor Lolo scored in injury-time to beat Toulouse 3-2.
Lyon's former coach Alain Perrin was unhappy as another late goal cost Saint-Etienne as they lost 1-0 at Grenoble. Les Verts are back in the bottom three and this is the third game in four they have dropped points by conceding in injury-time (they did the same in the 2-2 draw at Monaco and the 1-1 draw against Bordeaux). That's good news for Werder Bremen, their Uefa Cup opponents this week. "The Uefa Cup has become a drag and we're not going to play to qualify against Bremen," said Perrin. "Will the fans be upset? Well, they won't want to see us in the second division next season." He has since retracted those comments.
This week sees the French Cup quarter-finals and Domenech's latest squad announcement for the World Cup qualifiers against Lithuania. For once, though, all the talk is about a title race that is finally wide open. Four points separate the top six sides and Lyon still have to play Marseille, PSG and Bordeaux. Laurent Blanc's team look to have the easiest run-in and could yet surprise us all.
Results, Week 28: Monaco 3-2 Toulouse, Le Mans 2-2 Rennes, Caen 0-1 Lille, Nantes 1-1 Lorient, Sochaux 2-1 Nancy, Valenciennes 3-2 Le Havre, Bordeaux 2-1 Nice, Lyon 0-2 Auxerre, Grenoble 1-0 Saint-Etienne, PSG 1-3 Marseille.
