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Football

28th Apr 2019

Hatem Ben Arfa savagely mocks PSG after cup final defeat to Rennes

Hatem Ben Arfa couldn't resist the chance to mock Paris Saint-Germain's tendency to fall at the final hurdle after Rennes' cup final victory

Reuben Pinder

Hatem Ben Arfa really doesn’t like PSG

Paris Saint-Germain have a habit of this, don’t they? On Saturday night, the Ligue 1 leaders blew a 2-0 lead to lose the French Cup final in the latest edition of several spectacular bottle jobs over recent years.

What is it about them that prevents them from achieving what they should, given the millions (and millions) poured into the club, and the talent on show? Perhaps there is a severe lack of leadership in the dressing room. Perhaps the footballing Gods won’t let them simply buy an annual treble. Either way it’s really funny, especially to Hatem Ben Arfa.

You probably remember Ben Arfa best for his mazy dribbles through helpless Premier League defences for Newcastle United during the Alan Pardew era. What a time to be alive. Nowadays, the 32-year-old is plying his trade at Rennes after an ill-fated two years at PSG under Unai Emery, and there is no love lost between player and club.

Let me remind you of the time Ben Arfa posed with a cake with a number 1 candle in it, marking an entire year since his last appearance for the club. That is just great banter. You have to respect it.

On Saturday night, after beating his old club on penalties at the Stade de France, the Frenchman took great joy in speaking to the media afterwards about PSG’s tendency to bottle these games.

“We did a remontada, but PSG are used to that,” he told reporters in the mixed zone.

https://twitter.com/TheEuropeanLad/status/1122280974111395840

‘Remontada’ is a Spanish word for ‘comeback’ that has become commonly used around Europe in the context of sport, the most famous of which is of course Barcelona’s 6-5 aggregate win in the Champions League after pSG took a 4-0 lead in the first leg in 2017.