No side has won the Trophée des Champions more than PSG, who look to add a 14th title when they face a Marseille side bidding to end a 15-year wait to lift this trophy.
PSG have absolutely dominated this competition by winning 11 of the last 12 editions, and with the last three of those triumphs coming to nil, they’ve been relatively untroubled along the way.
The Parisians won both Ligue 1 and the Coupe de France last season and now look to complete a domestic trilogy when this competition is hosted in Kuwait for the first time ever.
It’s a second visit to the Middle East in quick succession for PSG, who were recently in Qatar when they won the FIFA Intercontinental Cup in December, with that final win over Flamengo coming in the midst of a four-match winning run that culminated in a 2-1 win against local rivals Paris FC on Sunday to cut the deficit to Ligue 1 leaders Lens back to just a point.
Marseille’s spot in this final comes courtesy of being the best of the rest behind PSG in Ligue 1 last season, though the 19 points adrift they finished goes some way to highlighting just how far off the pace they were.
They’re already seven points behind PSG at the midway stage of Ligue 1 this term, with Sunday’s 2-0 home defeat to struggling Nantes certainly not helping their cause, even if they did play two thirds of the game with a numerical disadvantage.
The Phocaeans will be clinging to the three successive wins they managed beforehand as a source of inspiration as they hunt down only a fourth Trophée des Champions crown, and they do tend to travel strongly, winning four of their last five games that weren’t played on home turf.
