Daniel Riolo spoke on RMC Sport about, among other things, the strange lack of indignation from some people around Paris Saint-Germain — including supporters — after the 1-0 defeat to Olympique de Marseille on Monday (Matchday 5 of Ligue 1). The journalist used the opportunity to underline that there’s only one future for PSG: the Super League. He urged the club to embrace the project and drop the “hypocrisy” of publicly rejecting it.
Riolo: “Four years ago I said it: the Super League is PSG’s future.”
“I want to go back to an episode and the hypocrisy surrounding it in recent years. Three or four years ago, when the debate about the Super League came up — which should naturally have attracted PSG without hypocrisy — the club’s president jumped on his high horse and made us believe that the national competition was what mattered most and that it was wonderful. I repeat, if this hadn’t been built on hypocrisy and lies… Four years ago I said it: the Super League is PSG’s future.
With great clarity, I said we had to stop telling ourselves stories. In the long run, PSG has no other path. I said Ligue 1 would become too small and that they’d have nothing to gain from it. I said Ligue 1 would collapse, so they might as well stop lying and just go.”
Many PSG supporters, though not all, say they don’t even care about losing to OM. “That’s a revolution,” Riolo pointed out. “In recent years you’ve been winning all the time, so of course there’s some fatigue. But that fatigue has killed off the rivalries that make our league special — and PSG-OM was the number one rivalry.”
“If someone tells me, without hypocrisy, that PSG and its fans don’t care about Ligue 1…”
“So if someone comes to me, without hypocrisy, and says PSG and its supporters no longer care about Ligue 1 and want to help build the Super League, I’ll say, ‘Bravo,’ and maybe I’ll support them,” Riolo added.
Riolo: “I’m campaigning for us to stop lying to ourselves.”
“But there’s a condition: restructure all of European football. Because anyway, everything is going to collapse. In two years there’ll be no money left in Ligue 1, we’ll be watching youth academies face each other. There’ll be no league left, it’ll be worth nothing because the gaps are too big. I’m campaigning for us to stop lying to ourselves.”
As always, Riolo’s style is distinctive — with plenty of emphasis on being right, on having predicted everything. In his narrative, PSG was hypocritical, pretended to care about Ligue 1, and now acts as if it’s playing almost out of charity. One could almost wonder why the players still celebrate goals, victories and titles, or why they looked so angry leaving the pitch in Marseille.
Many fans have brushed off the defeat largely because Ousmane Dembélé (28) won the 2025 Ballon d’Or, the crowning achievement of a historic season. They preferred to celebrate that. Riolo could have highlighted this point more. It’s also worth noting that when supporters insist they’re not bothered, it sometimes sounds suspicious — as though they’re focusing on a consolation prize instead.
PSG fans also genuinely love this combative, collective team. This was just a minor setback, without being ridiculous and with an injury-hit attack. There’s no need to dramatize everything. It can even be a good sign that supporters are able to keep things in perspective after a defeat.
As for the Super League itself, the new Champions League format already offers more matches and revenue. It’s a decent compromise without forgetting the importance of domestic competitions. Ligue 1 has flaws and needs improvements, but not everything should be thrown away, and its disappearance is far from inevitable. It would be better to invest in the French league and promote it rather than bury it in advance.
