Why Sunday's Le Classique will impact the future of Ligue 1, PSG, Marseille, and Lionel Messi 

Winner-takes-all for PSG 

For the first time in over ten years, PSG opened the doors of the Parc des Princes on Friday to allow fans to watch a training session ahead of Le Classique. 32 thousand showed up. 

This attempt to get the supporters on board is a sign of the tension within, around, on top, and below the club with two future-defining matches on the horizon in Ligue 1 and the Champions League. While the challenge of a big battle in Bavaria against Bayern Munich awaits, the immediate mission is a massive match-up in Marseille on Sunday.

One positive for PSG is that Sunday's Classique is a winner-takes-all event. A victory in the Stade Velodrome where Marseille have been strangely shaky in Ligue 1 and PSG take an eight-point lead in the standings and a fractious relationship between megastars and fans is repaired a little. 

A repeat of the recent Coupe de France knockout will see just a two-point cushion on Marseille in the title race, and piles more pressure at a club whose temperature is always running hot. 

In terms of footballing form, PSG's post-World Cup encounters have been poor with Christophe Galtier's side losing three of their last four Ligue 1 games away from home (the same as their previous 22) and only just squeezing past Lille last weekend. Marseille have lost just one Ligue 1 game since October. 

A reality check for Marseille 

Statistically, Marseille are giants in French soccer with 10 Ligue 1 title wins in their history and 14 runners-up places. The problem with that admirable fact is that Marseille have not won the Ligue 1 title since 2010. While the spending power of PSG in that period is certainly a factor, it's not an excuse that holds water for long as Montpellier, Monaco, and Lille (twice) have won the championship in the intervening period with considerably fewer resources.

Despite early reservations at his appointment after the departure of the popular Jorge Sampaoli, Igor Tudor has been a steady hand on the tiller of a rolling, rumbustious club with just four league defeats from 24 matches. While sitting just five points off PSG seems impressive, the season should have been even better were it not for the fact that the supposed advantage of the feverish Velodrome atmosphere has seemingly worked against Marseille this season with only 44% of points being picked up at home, the second-worst record in Ligue 1. Tudor's side will need an urgent course correction on Sunday or the work and promise of the season so far could be rapidly undone. 

Another Messi milestone and a friendly foe 

"Anything you can do, I can do better!" 

Just four months after Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 700th career club goal while on duty for Manchester United, Lionel Messi can do the same in Le Classique with PSG. A goal on Sunday would also double Messi's tally from his first season at PSG and would also signify the player's first-ever strike against Marseille, with the Argentinean ace facing the French side four times without finding the net. So far. 

Messi will also find a familiar friend from the past on the pitch, but a foe in the present with Alexis Sanchez set to lead the line for Marseille. The former Barcelona forward has nine Ligue 1 strikes and is still a formidable threat, ably assisted by Cengiz Under and new record-signing, Vitinha.