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Clubs de haut niveau Top-tier teams 1- Le Paris Saint-Germain (football). Paris Saint-Germain (football). 2-Le Stade Français (rugby). Stade Français (rugby).

3- Nanterre 92 (basket-ball). Nanterre 92 (basketball).

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T he Eiffel Tower, the Champs-Élysées, the Louv re... and Pa r is Saint-Germain! The wor- ld-famous football club is almost as synonymous with Paris as other time-ho- noured icons, despite the team’s recent shortcomings in theCham- pions League. PSG is not alone. Paris’ numerous men’s and wo- men’s teams excel inmore than just football. The capitol’s own Stade Français Paris and Racing 92 rug- by teams have huge, loyal fol- lowings, the PSG handball team features superstar Nikola Karaba- tic, and basketball teamsNanterre 92 and Levallois rank high in the European leagues.

France along with Olympique Lyonnais, and the PSG handball team, which has dominated the sport for the last four years. With France’s biggest budget, rugby teams Stade Français and Racing 92 have each won the Top 14 rug- by championship, the equivalent of first-division rugby, in 2015 and 2016, respectively. Professional volleyball teams Paris Volley won the French championship in 2016 and JSF Nanterre won in 2013. “This can be explained by the ca- pital’s financial and demographic power in a highly centralized country,” says Vincent Duluc, a senior reporter at L’Équipe . However good at home, these teams have yet to assert themsel- ves on the European stage. PSG handball is expected to win it all this season. But in the history of Île-de-France teams, Paris Volley is the only team to have won a prestigious European trophy, in 2001. “In comparison, Real Ma- drid has won four football

“Paris is remarkably diversified in team sports. Rome, London, Ma- drid, Barcelona, and Munich boast major teams, but not this kind of diversity. Italy and England are weak in handball, like Spain and Germany in rugby,” says Charles Biétry, the former pre- sident of PSG football. The city’s sporting achievements at the na- tional level definitively rank Paris as the capital of French sports. The seven-time French champion PSG football club did it again this season, though the club’s budget, far superior to any of its rivals, is a distinct advantage. The same goes for the PSGwomen’s football team, one of the two best in

UNBEATABLE TEAMS In these five major sports, the Paris region boasts 17 professional first- and second-division teams, to the delight of thousands of fans who come to cheer them on every weekend. AURELIENMEUNIER -PSG/PSGVIAGETTY IMAGES -SANDRARUHAUT/ICONSPORTVIAGETTY IMAGES

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97 - PARIS WORLDWIDE MAI  /  JUIN MAY  /  JUNE

2019